


Bleed and Burn

by BloomingMiracle (Luna264)



Series: Kingdom Hearts Wheelchair AU [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon, Sad Children, had a weird dream and now its part of my au, headcanon heavy, master eraqus kind of sucks actually, wheelchair au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2020-12-24 04:23:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 31,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21093335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna264/pseuds/BloomingMiracle
Summary: At first, Aqua and Terra were Master Eraqus' only apprentices.But they weren't always the only children there.(Prequel to Wheel and Turn)





	1. Build myself a wall of unhappy hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh glory  
I think I see you 'round the bend  
And I think I'd try any poison to get there in the end  
Oh glory

Astrid groaned as the light streamed into the room, and she heard the others beginning to stir. Master Eraqus had promised them an announcement that day, and they’d been excited the night before. Now, in the morning, being pulled from slumber, things were… different.

“Come on!” Aqua cheered. “Come on, come on! We gotta get up!”

“It. Is. Dawn.” Terra’s voice was muffled, probably by his pillow.

“Master Eraqus said we’re gonna have to get up earlier when we’re older,” Sean said. From the sound of it, he was already out of bed, heading for the door.

“We’re like  _ ten _ ,” Blayne complained.

“Not all of us. Besides, we’re not gonna be kids forever,” Igni said. “Let’s go. Come on, Triddy.”

Astrid felt the hand shake her shoulder, and she groaned again. Still, she sat up.

The six of them prepared for the day at various paces, and for a few minutes things seemed almost normal. Igni chased Sean down, forcing him into his shirt. Blayne brushed Astrid’s hair while she adjusted Terra’s collar. Aqua did some miscellaneous adjustments for everyone, and Sean reached up and wiped the leftover drool from the night before off her face.

Soon, the group was lined up in the front hall of the building where they lived, prim and proper and tense.

Master Eraqus entered, too solemn, too cold. Igni shivered.

“Today we begin your first test,” Eraqus said. His voice rang out over the room, over the assembled children. He walked around the dais, and emerged with a large, wooden chest. “Each of you gets one.”

The group approached, five of them climbing the stairs to the chest and Sean slapping his flukes against the floor in irritation. Aqua and Blayne heaved the chest down the stairs, and then the six of them opened the chest.

“Wooden keys?” Terra asked, lifting one out of the chest.

“ _ Big _ wooden keys,” Astrid said, weighing another in her hands. “What are  _ these _ for?”

“Have we… seen these before?” Blayne asked, squinting at the remaining keys.

“You should not have,” Eraqus snapped. The kids flinched.

Sean lifted one of the keys out of the chest and put it on his lap.

Blayne picked one out, turned it over, and promptly dropped it. “Huh,” He said as he picked it back up. “I’m not sure what I expected to happen, there.”

Eraqus looked at him, suspiciously.

Aqua and Igni looked at each other, and picked up the last two.

Each of the wooden keys was identical. Simple, unadorned, oak wood.

“In the coming year, I will be teaching the six of you to fight using these,” Eraqus explained. “At the end of that year, I will be selecting which of you to train with their proper forms.”

“Which are… big  _ metal _ keys?” Sean asked.

As one, the six of them felt Sean lose points.

“Let us begin with  _ form _ ,” Eraqus said.

~*~*~*~

The six of them got back to their room late that night, tired and sore and more than a little bit confused.

“This is  _ too _ weird,” Blayne sighed as he sagged against Terra.

“We already knew the man was eccentric, but…” Igni trailed off, flopping onto Sean’s mattress.

“I’m sure Master Eraqus knows what he’s doing,” Aqua said as Astrid stretched out across her lap. “They wouldn’t have sent us with him if he didn’t, right?”

“What happens if we fail?” Terra asked. “What happens to us if he doesn’t pick us?”

“We’ll just have to be so good, he picks  _ all _ of us,” Sean said. “Then we can stick together. Like we said.”

Astrid nodded sleepily.

Igni rolled off of Sean’s bed, and Terra helped Blayne stand up straight again. The four of them moved to where Astrid and Aqua were, and the six kids put their hands together as they positioned themselves in a rough circle.

“Like we said,” Terra said.

Blayne yawned, leaning into the circle and letting everyone hold him off the floor. “I’m bushed,” He complained. “Do you think tomorrow’s gonna be easier?”

“We can dream,” Igni said. “Come on, let’s all share tonight.”

“I don’t think we can all fit in one bed anymore,” Aqua said. “We’re not little.”

“We can try,” Astrid said.

Aqua sighed, and shifted positions slightly pulling herself more onto the bed she and Astrid had set themselves down on (Igni’s bed, technically) motioning the others to join them. Igni curled up at the foot of the bed, and Terra and Blayne climbed in from the other side. Astrid took Sean’s hand and heaved, helping him haul himself out of his chair and onto the bed with them and giggling a little as the scales on his arm caught a little in her hair for short, harmless moments.

“We  _ are _ too big for this,” Aqua said, amused.

“Who cares?” Igni said. “We’re sticking together. That’s what matters.”

Sean nodded, face pressed into Blayne’s shirt.

“Mhm,” Blayne muttered. “Night everyone.”

“Night.”

~*~*~*~

If anything, their training increased in intensity as time went on. No one wanted to say it, but they all knew; Master Eraqus  _ wasn’t _ going to choose all of them. He was attempting to whittle them out, until he had the number he wanted.

Whatever number that was.

Igni was the first one to find out. She arrived back from training later than everyone else one night, eyes wide and haunted.

“Three,” She said. “Only three of us can stay.”

“Wh- Why?” Terra burst out, eyes welling up with tears.

“How are you sure?” Blayne asked.

“There was another man,” Igni said. “Talking to Master Eraqus, I-- I listened to them.”

“Igni,” Aqua breathed, scandalized.

“That man was angry,” Igni said. “He told Master Eraqus he could only have three, and Master Eraqus said he knew, he was--” Igni broke off, the pain of what she had heard finally overwhelming her, and the others rushed to her side, holding her and petting her hair.

She was the youngest. She shouldn’t have had to hear.

“Three,” Blayne said. “Why put us through all this? Why give us this false hope we could stick together, if he’s only going to keep  _ half  _ of us?”

“There’s more to this, that we don’t know,” Aqua said.

“And that excuses it?” Blayne demanded. “He hurt Igni. He’s going to hurt her again, one way or another. Does the fact that he’s keeping secrets make it any better?”

“Blayne,” Terra said. “Don’t yell at Aqua. She--”

“She’s convinced he can hear us all the time anyways, isn’t she?” Blayne’s voice was barely under control. He, too, was crying. “She’s trying to suck up to him, even now,  _ isn’t she _ ?”

Astrid put her hand on Blayne’s shoulder, and he broke. He collapsed, deep sobs wracking his body, and Igni collapsed with him, leaning into his shoulder.

“We’ll figure something out,” Aqua said. “There can be six of us. There has to be.”

“Master Eraqus sure doesn’t think so,” Sean muttered.


	2. Happily listened, happy to stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then she smiled  
That's what I'm after  
The smile in her eyes  
The sound of her laughter

In their rare off hours, they accessorized their training keys, carving their names into them and wrapping ropes and fabrics around the grips and making them  _ theirs _ .

Sean had found a wood stain to give his a bluer color, when Blayne set his own key aside and coughed.

“You alright there?” Terra asked.

“Yeah,” Blayne said. “There’s just… something I want to talk to you all about.”

Everyone gave him various signals that they were paying attention.

“I’ve been having these weird dreams,” He said. “In them, I see other people, and we’ve got… magic.”

“Like Master Eraqus?” Igni asked.

They’d all seen him do a few spells, when he didn’t think they were looking.

“Sorta?” Blayne shrugged. “Anyways, also in those dreams, everyone has these.” He gestured to the key. “But… not made out of wood. I’m not sure  _ what _ they’re made out of. They appear and disappear like nothing.”

“Magic,” Sean said, eyes wide.

“Maybe you can see the future!” Aqua said, excited. “Maybe there’s a whole magic society!”

“I hope it’s not the future,” Blayne said. “I haven’t seen any of you there.”

They asked him a few more questions about the dreams. Who was in them, where they were, what happened. He answered them, too, as best as he could.

“Wow,” Astrid said. “Dream you has a mom. That’s weird.”

“A bit, yeah,” Blayne said. “The  _ whole thing’s _ weird, though, so…”

Everyone nodded.

Outside, a bell rang, and the six of them jumped into action, gathering their keys and rushing to train.

~*~*~*~

Terra’s shout of pain and confusion echoed across the courtyard, and everyone dropped their keys and rushed to him, even Eraqus.

The inky creature had left a gash on Terra’s arm and melted into the ground sliding around him.

“What  _ is _ that thing?” Astrid demanded.

“Children, go inside,” Eraqus commanded.

“No!” Sean said. “What  _ is _ that? Why is it attacking Terra?”

“ _ Now _ ,” Eraqus growled.

The inky shape reformed into a creature behind Terra and chittered. Terra, eyes wide with about a thousand different emotions, whirled and kicked it in the face.

The six children fled.

~*~*~*~

A minute or so later, Master Eraqus called them back outside to continue their training, and there was no sign of the inky creature.

“Training will now resume,” Eraqus said.

“But… what about Terra’s arm?” Astrid asked. “It’s still--”

“Whoever I select will likely beat worse than that,” Eraqus said simply. “We will attend to his arm later.”

“He’s  _ twelve _ !” Astrid protested.

“He will not be twelve forever.”

Astrid was about to say more, but Terra shook his head.

“I’m fine,” He said. “Really. It was just a surprise, is all.”

His arm was still bleeding.

~*~*~*~

“Here’s a thought,” Sean said as they prepared for bed, as Blayne bandaged Terra’s arm, as Aqua braided Astrid’s hair. “What if we  _ all _ fail?”

“We can’t!” Aqua yelped, and Astrid winced as the other girl involuntarily yanked on her hair. “Sorry. It’s just, then we’ll all get kicked out. Where will we go?”

“I dunno,” Sean said. “But… we’d still be together. We’d figure something out.”

Blayne nodded. “Makes sense to me.”

“I think it’s too risky,” Aqua said. “I think he’s gonna pick  _ somebody _ , no matter what.”

“I’d rather stick together somewhere  _ warm _ ,” Terra added.

“Maybe whoever doesn’t get chosen will still get to visit,” Igni said. “Maybe we’ll train with someone else.”

“Don’t sound so certain he’s not gonna pick you,” Sean said.

“I drop the key, like, all the time!” Igni said. “It’s heavy, and I can’t dodge with it. He’s not gonna pick me.”

“Then he’s dumb,” Blayne said.

Everyone gasped.

~*~*~*~

Sooner than anyone had expected, the day of the selection arrived. They all prepared together, one final time, putting on their best clothes as if that would change anything at all.

Eventually, the filed out to the main hall, and waited.

When Master Eraqus arrived, there were other people with him that they didn’t recognize. They stayed stiff, nervously glancing at the strangers. They hadn’t seen so many strangers before.

“The six of you, I brought here because I saw your potential,” Master Eraqus said. “That potential, I nourished as much as I could. Today, I will select those of you who displayed the most capacity to grow further, who were able to nourish their own talents and will continue to do so.”

Blayne took Terra’s hand.

“Those of you who leave this place, know you have done better than many in your position would have managed,” Eraqus continued. “When you walk through those doors for the final time, I hope it is with satisfaction and pride as you continue with the next phase in your lives.”

Sean’s hands shook in his lap.

“Terra, Aqua, please step forward.”

Blayne’s grip tightened for a moment, only a moment, before his hand fell from Terra’s.

Terra and Aqua approached the stairs, approached the dais, and knelt, bowing.

Blayne, Astrid, Sean, and Igni were hurried out.

~*~*~*~

They weren’t even allowed to collect their things, Sean thought bitterly as he sat in his stiff, new bed in his strange, new room.

He’d been assigned to share with some other boys he didn’t know. His seven roommates were all similarly inhuman in appearance, although none of them were mermen like him.

None of them were Astrid, or Blayne, or Igni, or-- None of them were his family, either.

They had some sort of class the next day, apparently. He wondered what it was about. He wondered if the others would be there.

He didn’t get that much sleep that night.


	3. I would rather do without

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I guess I'll have to face  
That in this awful place  
I shouldn't show a trace of doubt

Blayne drummed his fingers on the table in boredom as people trickled into the classroom. His own roommates had a very isolationist outlook on life in this strange place. For the first time in as long as he remembered, he’d prepared for the day on his own. No help, given or received. No tasks shared between himself and another.

The uniform provided by this place was itchy.

Idly, he wondered how the others’ mornings had gone. Astrid’s hair was usually passed between them, taking as long as every other task together to get brushed out simply due to its amount.

Sean rolled into the room, and beelined for the spot next to Blayne’s seat. “I hate it here,” He said. They were the first words out of his mouth since the group had arrived the evening before.

“It’s not forever,” Blayne assured him.

“It’s still for too long.”

“Eh, not gonna argue  _ that _ .”

A smaller boy, probably around the same age as Igni, was the last child into the room, accompanied by an older man who was greying around the edges.

“Take a seat, Tiger,” The man said, and moved to the front of the room, while the boy looked around.

The boy looked around nervously. With a start, Blayne realized he  _ wasn’t _ wearing a uniform, simply an outfit with the approximate colors of one.

“I don’t think he lives here,” Sean whispered.

“Think his caretaker’s one of the adults running around?” Blayne asked.

“Probably that guy up front,” Sean agreed.

They cut off as the boy approached.

“Can I sit here?” The boy asked.

Blayne nodded, and the boy smiled as he took one of the chairs at their table.

The man up front was a teacher, which according to the new boy’s whispered explanation meant he didn’t live at the facility. The teacher, Braig, talked about math for most of the morning.

Eventually, a loud ringing shook the room.

“And, that’s lunch,” Braig said. “Remember, one hour, then you’re back in here.”

Pretty much every boy in the room rocketed from their chairs.

Blayne was included in that number. “Come on,” He said to Sean. “Let’s see if we can find the girls.”

~*~*~*~

Igni was in hell.

The woman in charge of the girls’ classes was strict, and prim, and not at all happy with the additions of her new charges.

Privately, Igni thought that she and Astrid were even  _ less _ happy than her about it, but they weren’t going around making that everyone else’s problem.

The two of them were able to find the boys at lunch pretty quickly. The boys, and…

“New friend?” Astrid asked.

Blayne turned. “Oh, hey,” He said.

The kid shrunk, a little, and shuffled his feet. “Hi,” He said.

“I’m Igni,” Igni said, extending a hand.

The boy took it. “I’m Ventus,” He said. “Call me Ven. You four are new, right?”

Astrid nodded. “What about you? How long have you been here?”

“Oh, uh…” Ven shuffled his feet again. “I… My dad works here, so I go to school here, even though I live at home.”

“He’s our teacher, right?” Sean asked.

Igni shuttered. “Please don’t talk about the teachers,” She said. “Ours is  _ horrible _ .”

“Miss Molly doesn’t really like kids,” Ven agreed. “I don’t know why she works here. Everyone has her for etiquette at the end of the week.”

“Disgusting,” Blayne said.

~*~*~*~

The rest of the day passed with mixed results on all ends. So did the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that.

Eventually, it was time for etiquette.

Miss Molly glared at the classroom as though each and every student had personally offended her.

“Oh, boy,” Sean muttered.

“You! Up front!” Miss Molly snapped, pointing at Sean.

Slowly, he made his way to the front of the room. Everyone sat, stiff and nervous.

“Who are you?” Miss Molly said.

“Sean,” Sean said.

“Sean  _ who _ ?”

He glanced around, nervously. “Sean?” He proffered again.

“Insolent little--” Miss Molly growled.

“Cut him a break, I’m pretty sure that’s his only name.”

As one, the room turned towards the door. Braig was leaning against the frame, looking almost bored.

“Don’t you have better things to do than barge into  _ my _ classroom?” Miss Molly demanded.

“I don’t have class today, so…” Braig waved a hand vaguely. “Not really. Sheesh, I knew the kids complained about you, but I didn’t think it was  _ this _ bad.”

“Oh, do they?” Miss Molly’s eyes narrowed.

“No, Miss Molly,” The room chorused.

“Now,” Miss Molly said, turning back to Sean. “Your full name, where you’re from, and what title you held there,  _ if any _ .”

The last two words in that sentence came with a sneer, as though she expected nothing from him.

“I’m Sean,” He said. “I’m from the Land of Departure, and I was a student.”

“Hopeless!” Miss Molly declared. “Back to your seat, and try not to distract anyone who  _ might _ be able to learn from me.”

Sean rolled back to the table he was sharing with Blayne, Igni, Astrid, and Ven. Ven was the only one not growling or glaring in some regard.

“Now, for today’s lesson…”

~*~*~*~

“I hate her, I hate her, I hate her!” Astrid said that evening as she prepared for bed.

“Hey,  _ you lot _ are sucking up to Braig,” One of her roommates said. “He’s  _ never _ stepped in like that for anyone else before.”

“I hadn’t  _ seen _ Braig before today,” Astrid countered.

“No, but you and your friends spend lunches with his son,” Another roommate said. “Sucking up.”

“Wh-- But-- Ven was the one who approached  _ us _ ?” Astrid said. “ _ How _ is that sucking up?”

There was a bit of muttering among the roommates for a few moments.

“He’s  _ Braig’s son _ ,” The first one said, as though that should have explained anything.

Astrid looked around at them. “So…  _ none _ of you have talked to him, because you’re worried about being suck ups?”

Her roommates nodded.

“ _ Pretty _ sure that sucking up is more like when Terra acted like he was fine after getting attacked by a monster so Master Eraqus would pick him as an apprentice,” Astrid said.

  
“After  _ what _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! More canon characters
> 
> shocking, i know


	4. No clemency for this evil of mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't look better today  
The mask I wear is crumbling away  
Lapsing in depravity  
I didn't see what was happening to me

Life in that strange place fell into a routine. Get up, go to class, have lunch, go back to class, go to bed.

Ven inserted himself neatly into the group. He didn’t _ fill _ the gap left by Terra and Aqua, but he took up a bit of the space that had once been theirs. He filled in gaps in knowledge about the facility, its inhabitants, its employees, and he had an earnest joy about him that couldn’t help but be contagious.

So, Sean and Blayne were surprised one day when he came in closed off. It wasn’t the same sort of nerves he’d had on their first few days, rather a bone-deep feeling that they couldn’t quite identify, but were sure wasn’t _ good _.

It wasn’t until lunch that he said _ anything _.

“Something’s wrong with Dad,” He said. “He’s acting different. He’s trying to hide it, but he is.”

“He seemed alright to me,” Blayne said.

“Sure,” Ven said. “But he’s not _ your _ dad, is he?”

“Got me there,” Blayne said.

“It’s just…” Ven sighed. “He’s my _ dad _. I love him and I’m worried about him.”

“Maybe Miss Molly got to him,” Astrid said. “You know she hates how casual he is.”

“Maybe,” Ven said.

“Suck ups!” Someone sneered from the crowd.

Ven sighed.

“Hey, who was that?” Astrid demanded. “Whoever it was, you _ shut up _ about my friends!”

The students roiled, muttering in amusement and concern and half of any other emotion they could think of.

“Astrid, _ nooo _ ,” Ven whined, grabbing her arm. “You _ know _ what’ll happen if you get in a fight.”

Igni latched onto her other arm. “Don’t do it,” She said, tone much the same as Ven’s.

“Oh, come on, if she’s _ looking _ for a fight, why stop her?” A few students stepped up, and the rest of the crowd drew back.

Astrid growled.

Ven sighed. “Then let me,” He said. “I don’t have to stay here, Dad can--”

“Yeah, _ his daddy _ can bail him out,” One of the students laughed. “Then he doesn’t even get in trouble, right?”

Blayne balled his fists.

“Be smart about this,” Sean muttered. “Ven’s right. A fight’s the last thing we need right now.”

It was about then that one of the students stepped forward and punched Blayne in the face.

Blayne swung back, as Astrid jerked out of Ven and Igni’s grips and lunged to fight alongside him.

There was a quick brawl. Punches. Kicks. Shouts.

Then there was a thud, and one of their attackers went flying backwards.

Everyone turned to Ven.

The shining not-quite-metal of the giant key in his hand dissipated.

“What was _ that _?” Someone demanded.

“I… don’t know,” Ven said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

The crowd began to move again, and eventually parted as Braig moved through it. “What’s going on here?” He demanded. It was the first time most of the people there had seen him angry.

Every explanation was given at once, and Braig sighed, collecting Ven, Igni, Astrid, Sean, Blayne, their attackers, and a couple of random witnesses and leading them up to the office.

~*~*~*~

After everyone, one by one, had given their stories, the person in charge had declared that everyone involved in the fight would have cleaning duty for three weeks.

“It’s not as bad as it coulda been,” Igni said.

“Coulda been _ four _,” Sean said. “Besides, it was worth it to stand up for ourselves for once, right?”

“I got us all in trouble,” Astrid said.

“We _ all _ got us all in trouble,” Blayne said. “Hey, Ven, are you _ sure _ you don’t know anything about that key?”

“Never seen it before,” Ven said.

“Not even any dreams or anything?” Blayne asked.

Ven shook his head. “What, have you dreamed about them?”

Blayne nodded. “Sometimes. I dunno why, but it always makes me sad when I wake up.”

“Huh,” Ven said. “Well, maybe _ you’ll _ get one, too. Maybe we can figure out what they are.”

~*~*~*~

“Dad’s getting me an apprenticeship,” Ven said. “He hasn’t told me for what, yet, and it won’t start until I’m done with cleaning duty, but…”

“Then you won’t be here anymore,” Igni said.

Ven nodded. “This place sucks, but I’ll miss you guys.”

“Yeah, we’ll miss you, too,” Blayne said. “You’re a good kid.”

“So are you,” Ven said.

“Do you think your apprenticeship has something to do with that key?” Sean asked. “Maybe it’s with Master Eraqus. He _ technically _ had room for another apprentice, he just didn’t keep any of us on.”

“Oh!” Igni said. “If it is, you can say hi to Aqua and Terra for us!”

Ven nodded, firmly. “If I see them, I will,” He said.

~*~*~*~

_ “Do you really have to go?” Blayne asked. _

_ She put her hands on his shoulders. “I’m afraid so. It’s the only way.” _

_ “This whole thing is so confusing. We’re still not ready.” _

_ “I know, dear.” She moved her hand up to his face. Her voice was soft, her mouth quirked in a small, sad smile. “But you’ll be alright, you know. You’re my little Brainiac.” _

_ He felt tears well up in his eyes. “When will you be back? Will I see you again?” _

_ “I… I will be gone a very long time, dear heart. You have more to do than wait for me.” Her hand moved up further still, and ruffled his hair. “You can do it. I know you can. It wouldn’t be your task if you couldn’t.” _

_ He reached up, taking her other hand. The one that was still on his shoulder. “Why me, Mother?” He asked. “Why did he choose me?” _

_ “I don’t know,” She said. “And I cannot ask him. I may not believe in him, Brain, but I believe in you.” _

_ “I’m just me,” He said, leaning forward. _

_ She understood the request in the gesture, and gathered him in her arms one last time. “You’re you,” She said. “And that’s the best anyone could be. You saw what happened. Please, help me make sure it doesn’t happen again. Keep the others kind.” _

_ “They don’t need my help with that,” He said. “They’ve got Ven.” _

~*~*~*~

Blayne sat bolt upright in bed, leaned forward onto his knees, and cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the pacing is a little bit fast at the moment. The plan is to slow down when these kids start having a little bit more control over what's going on in their lives.


	5. A new life to build from their sorrows and joys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Give my children wings, but not the ghosts of wings  
I have found in the words of the dreamers  
Let them fly away to a world so far away  
From the fools and the cruel and the schemers

The last day before Ventus was due to leave, everyone gathered together.

“See you again someday?” Igni offered.

“Hopefully!” Ventus agreed. “Hey, I’ve been figuring out that key thing. I can almost summon it on command now.”

He showed them.

Now that they had a chance to look at it, the key was a beautiful sort of thing. Astrid put her hand on it, and it hummed with a quiet power. Ventus passed it to her, and she turned it over, looking at it curiously.

Blayne reached out, too, but before he reached it, another key appeared in his own hand.

Everyone looked at that.

“Neato,” Sean declared.

“Hey, no fair!” Igni declared, snatching Blayne’s key away from him and starting to run.

“Wh-- Igni!” Blayne whined, giving chase.

Sean sped past both of them, catching Blayne’s key in one hand before setting it in his lap and wheeling away.

“Hey!” Blayne complained again, and the key dissipated.

Sean slowed to a stop. “Aw, man,” He said.

“That’s  _ so _ weird,” Ventus said. “But I was  _ right _ ! You  _ did _ get one!”

“Yeah,” Blayne said, looking at his hands. “Yeah, I did.”

~*~*~*~

After Ven left, things were almost offensively the same as they’d been when he’d been there. Years ticked by day after day.

Blayne trained himself, with that strange key, as much as he could manage in secret, but there wasn’t much he  _ could _ do in those closely monitored, tightly scheduled halls.

It had been four years since their arrival (three and a half years since Ven had gone) when the four of them were called up to the office one morning, missing Miss Molly’s class on etiquette for the week.

“Not looking forward to  _ tomorrow _ ,” Igni muttered, twelve years of consistent disappointment under her belt.

When they entered, the headmaster and Braig were there, accompanied by someone they had never seen before who was looking over a great number of papers.

They lined up, stiff and attentive.

“Ah, there you are,” The headmaster said. “Good news! You’ve been adopted!”

Their eyes drifted to the person with the papers. That person glanced up at them, and shook their head.

“I just handle the paperwork here,” They said. “Braig is… actually…”

They looked at him, a little uncomfortable. Their expression was almost  _ knowing _ , Astrid thought.

“I got an offer for another job somewhere else,” Braig said. “And, I’ll admit, I’ve grown a little attached to you kids.”

None of them were  _ quite _ sure how to feel about that. Sure, he was Ven’s dad, and Sean and Blayne knew him as a fair enough teacher, but…

None of them had quite forgotten their conversation with Ven before he’d ended up with that strange key. Something had changed about him, that his son had found cause for concern with.

“We…” Sean said, glancing to the others for a cue.

Astrid stepped forward. “We’re honored,” She said, giving half a bow. “Thank you.”

And, it seemed, that was that.

~*~*~*~

Braig brought them to a place called the Radiant Garden. It was one of those places that actually  _ did _ live up to its name, much to their surprise and delight.

Sean, personally,  _ loved _ the fountains. As it turned out, he wasn’t the only one. There was a mermaid in town, from the same world he must have once belonged to, and she and her half-human son spent a lot of time in the water as well.

Igni, on the other hand, was fascinated with the castle. It was a science institute, and although she hadn’t had much opportunity to study the subject before, she was certainly interested in trying. Braig worked security there, too, so he let her tag along with him, most days. There wasn’t, really, much to secure it from, after all. She followed him to work, and then she latched onto Even, who thought himself clearly too old to be spending time with a child as young as her, or Bertie, the old woman who organized the archives.

Astrid started spending her days with a group of other girls around their age, managing to make fast friends due to her skills with hair braiding and throwing things really fast. They had a team for a sport called ‘dodgeball’.

All this left Blayne reeling for a while. Everyone was moving in different directions, and all of them were moving without him.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. For fourteen years, everything had made sense to him, because his family stuck together. Now it didn’t. Now  _ they _ didn’t.

He tagged along, one day, with Igni and Braig. To see the castle. He was allowed, after all.

Igni introduced him to Bertie. She had a baby on her back.

“Her name is Kairi,” Bertie explained. “She is my granddaughter.”

“She looks like a potato,” Blayne said.

Bertie laughed. “She is very young,” She explained. “All humans look that way at that age.”

Blayne liked Bertie, he decided. And he liked the archives. Igni spent a lot of time looking through the sections on science and magic, but Blayne discovered a fascination with history. There was a whole library for history, in the archives of that castle. He began to hole up in it, reading or practicing with that strange key, until someone came to get him.

One day, he was practicing when Braig came to collect him.

The two stared at each other for a long moment. Then, Blayne dispelled the key and changed his stance from one of combat to a stiff, upright, nervous position.

“How long have you…” Braig gestured. “You know. Had that?”

Blayne looked away from him. “Since a bit before Ven left school, sir.”

“That long?” Braig sounded almost impressed. “Do the others know?”

Blayne nodded.

“They haven’t… touched it, have they?” Braig asked.

“... No,” Blayne lied.

Braig sighed. “Oh, no, they  _ did _ , didn’t they?”

“Is that… bad?” Blayne looked back to the man.

“Well, considering what you lot are all like, they’ll probably get their own at some point,” Braig said. “Now, I  _ should _ get you masters to teach you how to use those properly, but…”

Something twitched in the back of Blayne’s mind. The memory of Igni recounting a conversation she’d overheard. “They can only have three apprentices,” He said.

Braig blinked at him. “How--” He began.

“Before we came to school,” Blayne said. “We were staying with a man called Master Eraqus. He… He had wooden replicas of those keys. Igni heard him talking about the limit with someone else.”

“Well, at least you know how to hold it without breaking your wrist, then,” Braig muttered.

“Master Eraqus kept Aqua and Terra when he sent the rest of us away,” Blayne said. “Please don’t--”

“I’m not sending you four off to keyblade masters,” Braig assured him. “You’ve been through enough, and proper training is hard enough in the  _ best _ cases. I’ll… I’ll teach you what I can, without being a wielder myself. I owe you that much.”

“What does that mean?” Blayne asked.

“Come on, Brainiac, let’s get going.” Braig turned and waved for Blayne to follow. “Your sister’s waiting on us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keyblade time!
> 
> Also, "preparing to shove even more headcanons into this au" time. The power is mine.


	6. Colorful and Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The clock stopped ticking  
Forever ago  
How long have I been up  
I don't know

_ “This is messed up!” Brain said. “We can’t just-- just-- sit back and let this happen!” _

_ “Lauriam’s already gone,” One of them said. “I couldn’t find Elrena, either. They must have--” _

_ “We can still make sure there isn’t another war,” Another said. “I couldn’t care less about fate and prophecy, too many people died in the last one. We have to do whatever we can.” _

_ “You’re right,” Ven said. “We were picked to keep everyone safe, right?” _

_ The door slammed open. The person standing there… was a friend. Wasn’t a friend. He stood different, and when he spoke Brain caught glimpses of teeth that were just a little too sharp, a little too big. _

_ “You were picked to clean up the toys so they’d still be there for the next game,” He said. His voice was empty. When Brain looked closer, so were his eyes. _

~*~*~*~

Braig’s training took place in the evenings, when everyone got home. With a bit of encouragement, the others were able to manifest their own keyblades pretty quickly.

“So, we got these from touching Blayne’s keyblade?” Astrid asked.

“Presumably,” Braig said. “Unless you touched any others, first.”

“That must be where he got his,” Sean said. “It must have happened when he was a baby, or something.”

“What about Ven?” Igni wondered aloud. “Did he encounter a keyblade as a kid?”

“His grandfather’s,” Braig agreed. He sounded almost nostalgic. It faded quickly. “If we’re going to do this, you should focus. No telling what will happen if you encounter wielders trained by a proper master. They could take offense.”

~*~*~*~

Igni couldn’t sleep. She’d been lying in bed for an hour and a half, and it just wasn’t happening.

She stood, stretching, and glanced to her… Braig called them her siblings. It wasn’t a word she was entirely sure of the definition of, but it worked, she supposed.

They were asleep. Lucky them.

She tiptoed out of the room, and to the room that served as the house library. She spent most of her days in the castle, so she hadn’t actually checked out many of the books they had at home.

She pulled a few off the shelves and flipped through them. They were mostly stories.

Not that she had anything  _ against _ stories. She figured it’d probably be good for her to read some, at some point. She was just hoping for something a bit more… scientific.

She looked through some more.

One of the books had a black cover, blank, except for some ornate lettering.  _ The Book of Prophecies _ , it read.

She shrugged and set it off to the side. It didn’t sound like what she was looking for. Maybe some other time.

It was with great disappointment that she realized  _ all _ the books were stories. Fantasies, or histories, or anything else that wasn’t going to get her the information she was looking for.

She wouldn’t be allowed in the castle on Braig’s heels forever. She’d have to earn her way in, to keep access to that vast collection of information.

A wave of dizziness washed over her. She wasn’t tired, or else she’d have been in bed.

**The room was in sharp relief, contrast against itself. The whole house, the whole town, was filled with bobbing things she could feel. Bobbing bits of stories, threatening to reach out and overwhelm her.**

**They were all so far, so close. One, so close it seemed millimeters from overwhelming her.**

**“I know you’re there,” She gasped.**

**The thing hummed. Against her better judgement, she turned to look at it.**

**Ah, that explained it. It had already consumed one of its own. Whatever they were. What was that?**

**It hummed again, and approached her. She staggered backwards, her back hitting the wall that was too much there, not there enough.**

**“What are you?” She breathed. “What is this?”**

**Another hum, and a sensation both strange and familiar. Both familiar and strange. She wasn’t sure which word should be first, and which should be second to contrast it.**

**Everything was so different from itself.**

**She--**

**She--**

“Igni, talk to me.”

All at once, everything returned to normal. Braig’s hand was on her shoulder. He looked concerned.

“What happened?” She managed to ask.

She was surprised he’d managed to hear it over the pounding in her chest.

“Your Master Eraqus did you no favors by not teaching the lot of you about your own abilities,” Braig said. “He should have known you’d do this by accident eventually.

“But what  _ was _ it?” She looked up at him, desperate. Pleading.

Braig sighed. “Look, Poppet. It’s late. Go to bed. Get some rest, even if you don’t get any sleep. We can talk about this later.”

Igni stood, shakily, and returned to the bedroom she shared with her siblings. She kept thinking about that thing that must have been Braig. The one inside the other.

Ventus had said something had been wrong with Braig. They’d thought about it, a few times. But they’d mostly ignored it. He had  _ seemed _ the same.

Something was certainly different about Braig, from everything else in the world. Different from anyone else. Whether or not it was wrong… remained to be seen.

~*~*~*~

Ventus groaned, sitting up.

“You’re awake!”

The voice was warm, excited, and utterly unfamiliar to him.

Then again, what  _ was _ familiar to him? Where was he? He looked around, confused.

“Come on, we have to tell Terra and Master Eraqus!”

He turned. Sitting by his bed and grinning at him was a blue haired girl he had never seen before. Still, something in the names she said tickled the back of his memory.

“... Terra?” He said.

“Yeah,” She said. “Terra, and Master Eraqus.”

He blinked at her.

She sighed. “I know the master said you were in a bad way, but…” She trailed off, apparently unsure of how to continue.

“Y-Yeah, Terra!” Ventus proffered, figuring that the fastest way to find out what was going on would be to pretend he already knew. He stood. “Where… is Terra?”

“He’s in the courtyard,” The girl said. “Come on!”

He was so, so fortunate that she had decided to lead him.

Eventually, they opened the doors to the courtyard and stepped out into the warm afternoon air.

“Aqua!” A boy called, looking up from where he’d been wiping sweat off his forehead with a towel. “Right on time, it’s your turn!”

“Ven’s awake!” She-- Aqua-- said.

She led him over to where the other boy-- Terra-- and an older man-- Master Eraqus?-- were.

“Aqua…” Ventus said, intellectually. “And Terra…”

Aqua nodded.

“Is something wrong?” Terra asked.

“N-No,” He said hurriedly. “I just… I feel like I had something to tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luxu's talking about the Master of Masters. He's not *technically* Ven's grandfather, especially not *this* Ven, but that's the closest description that doesn't get into the whole mess and open up more questions Luxu doesn't want to answer.
> 
> I drew a picture for this chapter! This is not going to be a regular thing by any means (and if you followed me here from another fandom you know that it hasn't happened before) but I felt like it this time and it might happen again someday. I wasn't sure how to draw what I was going for this time, though. (;U.U)


	7. Your heart on the lifeline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Staying up all night  
Flying colored kites  
It's just another year  
So let's get out of here

“So, do you know what that was?” Igni asked Braig the following morning.

“I think so,” Braig said.

Everyone else at the breakfast table looked around at each other, a little bit concerned.

“What did it look like?” Braig asked, unperturbed.

“I…” Igni folded her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth. “It looked like  _ something _ ,” She allowed. “Mostly, I just felt it.  _ Felt  _ them, all those stories…”

Braig nodded. “My sister was the same way,” He said. “Seems like you can read hearts.”

“The more you speak, the less I understand,” Sean said brightly, before digging into the food in front of him.

“What happened?” Astrid asked.

“I don’t even  _ know _ ,” Igni said.

“I have a feeling your old Master Eraqus picked you lot for that reason,” Braig said. “You’ve probably  _ all _ got some sort of special magic affinity. Even if it’s nothing flashier than a high resistance to some element or another, that’s nothing to be scoffed at.”

“He’s on a roll,” Blayne said.

“Hey, so what would the rest of out powers be?” Astrid asked.

“Not sure,” Braig said. “There are lots of powers about.”

“Oh, fun,” Sean said, mouth full.

~*~*~*~

Sean swam through the fountains, popping up next to Meredith and Ienzo.

Ienzo was kicking his legs in the water neutrally. He liked the water well enough, and he liked spending time with his mother, but he didn’t like swimming. He sunk like a rock, as a consequence of his aquatic nature upping his body’s density, and he wasn’t interested in finding out whether or not he could breathe the water.

“Studies going well?” Meredith asked Sean.

Sean nodded.

“H’llo,” Ienzo said.

“Hi,” Sean said. “What’s up?”

Ienzo kicked his legs again.

Sean pulled himself back onto the stone and sat next to Ienzo while Meredith did some swimming on her own.

“What have you been up to?” Sean asked. “Anything fun?”

Ienzo nodded, and held up his hand. A small projection of a water droplet appeared.

“Oh, neat!” Sean said. “You must have been working very hard.”

Ienzo nodded. “Uh huh!” He said. He focused for a few moments, and the projection became a leaf.

Sean clapped.

“I’m trying to make them…” Ienzo paused, looking for the word. “Tactile?”

“I see, I see,” Sean said. “That sounds cool.”

~*~*~*~

Astrid watched in mild curiosity as a pair of cloaked figures approached the castle.

“Wonder who those are,” Isa said.

“Oh, that’s Master Nonaya,” Lea said. “She visits sometimes. Dilan told me about her. I don’t know who that other person is, though.”

“Is it possible that Dilan was trying to get you to stop asking?” Isa asked. “Because…”

“I  _ know _ what it sounds like, but that’s her name.”

“Braig seems a little on edge up there,” Astrid said idly. “Wonder why.”

Braig was waving his hands a little defensively, as the smaller cloaked figure ducked behind Master Nonaya. Nonaya put one hand on the smaller figure’s head, and the other up to her own mouth, as though she was laughing a little. Then she waved away the issue entirely, and the castle guards let her and her companion inside. As she entered, Nonaya removed her hood.

She was a striking figure, probably a little older than Braig. Every feature of her face was dignified and composed in a way Astrid had only seen once before.

In that weird, barely describable way, Nonaya reminded Astrid of Master Eraqus.

If that woman wasn’t a keyblade master, Astrid would eat Blayne’s stupid hat. She just wished she had a way to warn the others.

~*~*~*~

“Of course,” Igni heard Ansem the Wise say, “Lots of the people who work here bring children around, but I think they’re all perfectly satisfied with their present arrangement. None of them are looking for teachers, especially not in your field.”

“Would they bring it up to you if they were?” A woman’s voice that Igni didn’t know. “You’re their  _ employer _ . Their family’s schooling is not your concern.

A mish-mash of auditory memories arose unbidden in Igni’s mind. They were all Astrid’s voice, all things she’d said before. Igni could recall the contexts of most of them, but the words and phrases rising up in her mind formed a new, coherent thought.

_ “There is a keyblade master here.” _

“All the same, My Lady, you already have the one apprentice,” Ansem the Wise said. “Is that not enough?”

“Three is traditional,” The woman said.

Weird Astrid memories were right, apparently. Igni jotted that down, mentally.

The door opened, admitting Ansem the Wise and two other people.

“Oh, Igni, you’re helping Bertie out again today?” Ansem the Wise said jovially.

Igni nodded, glancing warily to the strange woman next to him.

“Hello,” The woman said. Her voice was warm. Igni couldn’t help remembering the first time she’d met Master Eraqus, when he’d taken the six of them into his strange home. She had been so young, then, but that stuck with her.

And now Aqua and Terra were with him, and Igni and the others were not.

“Hello,” Igni said politely.

“My name is Nonaya,” The woman said. Then she gestured to Bertie. “Is she your grandmother?”

“Oh, I wish at times,” Bertie said, in that happy voice little old ladies use when talking to anyone even a bit younger than them who isn’t being actively rude. “No, she’s one of Braig’s children.”

Igni wasn’t sure how she felt about being called Braig’s kid.  _ Ven _ was Braig’s kid. Still, it wasn’t as though she had any better way of describing her situation.

“Ah,” Nonaya said, as though that explained something. Perhaps it did. Something Igni hadn’t heard. “So, Igni, what do you want to do when you grow up? Any ideas?”

“I…” Igni said.

“Is this offer not something you should discuss with her guardian?” Ansem the Wise said.

“If she wants to train with me, I will discuss it with Braig,” Nonaya said.

“I’m fine here,” Igni blurted out. Then she blushed. “I… really like the library.”

“She’ll be a fine archivist someday,” Bertie hummed absentmindedly. “If that’s what she wants to set her mind to.”

“Mm,” Nonaya said, smiling. “Well, that sounds lovely. The world could always use more people taking care of its history.”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Igni said, for lack of anything better to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Master Nonaya started out as a joke OC, but then I realized I had a place where she would fit really well. Fun fact about her: she keeps bees!
> 
> Also Ienzo his half merperson now because I decided. In the immortal words of (KIRA ft.) Hatsune Miku: "i DO what i WANT".
> 
> Also, the most important thing that happened in this chapter is clearly the confirmation that Blayne still has the hat. It's the same one. It's in perfect condition.
> 
> Power Tally:  
Igni - Natural capacity to read hearts  
Astrid - Undiscussed  
Sean - Undiscussed  
Blayne - Undiscussed  
Terra - Low level increased resistance to most elements (undiscussed but I'm telling you anyways)  
Aqua - High darkness resistance (undiscussed but I'm telling you anyways)


	8. A wolf at your door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You were sharp as a knife to get me  
You were a wolf in the night to fetch me, back  
The wishes I've made are too vicious to tell  
Everyone knows I am going to hell

Blayne was in the history section, per norm, when the thought struck him.

_ “There is a keyblade master here.” _

He banished his blade. Enough of running through stances. He had to look busy. He grabbed a random book off of one of the shelves. It was black, and it had a bookmark in it.

He blinked.

Normally, the shelved books didn’t have bookmarks in them. Books that came back from Ansem the Wise or one of his apprentices might have a bookmark or ten left in them carelessly, but Bertie and Igni always removed them before shelving them.

He opened to the marked pages, curiously.

The bookmark was covered in strange symbols, but it also had writing on it.

“If found, please return to Merlin the wizard,” Blayne read aloud. “Huh. Have I met Merlin? I don’t think I have.”

He took the bookmark and tucked it into his back pocket.

Then, he caught sight of the  _ contents  _ of the marked pages.

The words were written in a silvery ink, that looked wet even as Blayne carefully ran his fingers over it to smudge absolutely nothing. These pages described a great war, destructive and devastating. It was referenced as “twice as powerful as the original war, which ripped the worlds apart.”

It was also described in the future tense.

Blayne checked the cover of the book.  _ The Book of Prophecies _ , it read. By someone called the Master of Masters.

“Gross,” Blayne declared.

The door opened, and he closed the book and turned, standing at attention on instinct. Another instinct found the book held behind his back.

“Oh!” The woman with Ansem the Wise said. “I’m sorry to startle you.”

Blayne muttered something about it being fine.

“I don’t believe I have the book,” Ansem the Wise said, as though he’d been saying it for a while. “I understand you wanting to check it out while you’re here, but it’s not in the catalog.”

“It  _ has _ to be around somewhere,” The woman said, starting to look through the shelves. Blayne shifted position, keeping his grip on the book behind his back and trying not to look too obvious about it. “If it’s not in your castle, it’s in town, and  _ that’s _ its own type of concerning.”

“You still won’t explain what’s so important about--”

“This book broke the rules,” She said. “It did so from a point in time I’ve narrowed down to tomorrow. Objects  _ don’t _ travel alone. I need to know how this one did, and why.”

Ansem the Wise looked at her, less than amused. “So any other purpose for your visit is naught but a bonus to you, old friend?”

“It  _ is _ charming to see you again,” The woman said. “That’s not the point. Ah! I know!” She snapped, turning away from the bookshelf. “What are  _ your _ apprentices up to?”

“We can check, but I’d doubt they have it,” Ansem the Wise said, turning to leave.

The woman followed him out, and all at once Blayne was aware of one more person.

A figure in a cloak, hood up.

They had come in with the adults, likely accompanying the whirlwind that was the strange woman (keyblade master?) in whatever visit was being conducted. But they were only a little bit taller than him.

“Have we met?” Blayne asked. He felt like they had. He wasn’t sure why.

“No,” The cloaked figure said. “But…”

“Yeah,” Blayne said.

“What have you got?” They asked.

“What have  _ you _ got?” Blayne countered, for lack of any better response.

They considered that.

“Skuld, come on!” The woman’s voice called from down the hallway.

“Ah-- Coming!” They called back. They waved, a little, and bolted out the door.

Blayne blinked. That was weird.

~*~*~*~

Blayne and Igni met up soon after and compared what they knew.

“You think she’s looking for  _ that _ book?” Igni asked.

“I think she’s looking for a weird book, and this is a weird book,” Blayne said. “It’d be a ridiculous coincidence if she’d been looking for the exact book I happened to pick up, but again, it’s a weird book. Check out this ink.”

“You’re right,” Igni said. “I didn’t look at Braig’s copy, but that’s weird. I think you should return the bookmark, though.”

“I don’t even know who Merlin  _ is _ ,” Blayne said. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“We could ask,” Igni said.

“We ask the others, first,” Blayne said. “Maybe Astrid’s heard something.”

“Tonight,” Igni agreed. “After training.”

Blayne nodded.

~*~*~*~

“Dunno,” Astrid said, when the four of them were all gathered around getting ready for bed that evening. “I’ve heard the name before, but I’m not sure who it is.”

“I’ve seen an eccentric old man in blue around the fountains sometimes,” Sean said. “I’ve been sitting in on the stories Meredith, Hazel, and Arthur tell Ienzo, and eccentric old men in blue seem to know a lot.  _ He _ might know who Merlin is.”

“Sean, those are fairy tales,” Igni said. “I dunno if they’re real.”

“Igni, we’ve  _ seen _ fairies here,” Sean said.

Igni thought about that. “You’re right,” She said. “Where’s the eccentric old man in blue live?”

Sean shrugged.

“We’ll have to find out,” Blayne said.

“Yeah, but there’s just one problem,” Astrid said. “You and Igni go to the castle, like, every day now. If either of you doesn’t, Braig might notice something’s up.”

“You’re right,” Sean said. “We wouldn’t want to worry him.”

“Sean and Astrid can look for Merlin,” Igni said. “Blayne and I will go to the castle. Who knows? There might be something else of his there. I can check the catalog, too!”

“I’m curious about this book,” Blayne said, holding up the copy of  _ The Book of Prophecies _ he’d snagged from the castle. “I didn’t read much of it, but what I did see was kind of concerning.”

“We’ll take that copy, from the castle, to this Merlin fellow, too,” Sean said. “He might be able to explain it.”

“Here’s hoping,” Blayne said.

~*~*~*~

_ “Hey, Brain? What’s that?” _

_ Brain closed the book and turned towards his companion. “One of my mother’s books,” He said, cagily. _

_ “Okay,” The other boy said, seemingly satisfied. “Hey, we haven’t talked about our families much, have we? None of us.” _

_ “I don’t think we’ve talked about them at all, except Lauriam,” Brain agreed. “But I also don’t think it’s really a good time. We’ve got so much going on, since…” He trailed off. _

_ Since his mother and the other foretellers had gone away. _

_ The other boy nodded. “Still, it might be nice to get to know each other. I mean, Skuld and I know each other already, but still. All of us.” _

_ “Yeah,” Brain said. “Maybe once things settle down a bit more.” _

_ The other boy laughed. “So, never, then?” _

_ Brain allowed himself a wry chuckle. “Maybe in a thousand years.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're about to talk about time travel, a little. Kinda wondering if I should find a place to lay out my opinions on all *that* shenaniganery, because I *did* make visual aids. Not very good ones, but still.


	9. If only I could travel back in time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They fall  
They fall  
The flowers fall like rain

“This is where the eccentric old man who might know something lives, you said?” Astrid asked. She was holding the book, bookmark tucked neatly into its back cover.

“That’s what Arthur said.” Sean nodded, and knocked on the door.

It swung inward.

Sean and Astrid looked at each other.

“Well, don’t just stand there!” A voice called from inside. “Come in, come in!”

Sean took a deep breath, steeling himself against whatever was about to happen next, and he and Astrid entered the small building.

“It’s…” Astrid said.

“A lot smaller on the outside,” Sean agreed.

“Hello children,” The old man said brightly. “How can I help you? Time has gotten a bit away from me, I’m afraid.”

The two watched with mild interest as the old man chased a clock past them.

“We were wondering if you knew who Merlin was,” Sean said. “Our brother found his bookmark, see, and--”

“Oh, is it that time already?” The man stopped, turning towards them. “Oh, well, I thought I’d have at least another year. I don’t even have the spell ready.”

“Uh-- What?” Astrid said.

“Here, let me see,” The old man waved his hand, and the book floated out of Astrid’s grip towards him. “Oh dear, oh dear,” He said. “Yes, you’ve brought me the right bookmark, but it seems you’ve brought the wrong book!”

“That was the book it was in,” Sean said.

“Precisely!” The man said. “This is the version of the book that’s already temporally displaced! I need the one from  _ now _ .”

Sean and Astrid stared at him for a long moment.

“Well how were  _ we _ supposed to know that?” Astrid said.

The old man examined the bookmark closer. “Oh, I see,” He said. “I only wrote these in runes. These were the instructions for  _ me _ , yes, I remember now.”

“Great,” Sean said. “So, where’s the book we  _ need _ ?”

“Well, it will be another copy of this one,” The old man (Merlin? He was probably Merlin, actually) said. “Shouldn’t be too hard. It’s only one of a kind, uh, I think.”

“Really?” Astrid said. “Igni said Braig had one.”

“Oh, well, that’ll be it, then. How convenient!” Merlin clapped his hands. “Can you go switch this book for that one, so we can get on our way?”

“Why?” Sean asked. “I mean, what are we even going to  _ do _ ?”

“Send it back in time, so it can become  _ this _ book,” Merlin said. “If there was a plan to be had from that, I didn’t write it on the bookmark, but I did it. So, naturally, now I have to do it.”

“What if… you  _ didn’t _ ?” Sean crossed his arms. “I’m not really interested in stealing from someone I live with.”

“No one’s ever  _ not _ completed a time loop before,” Merlin said. “I don’t know what would happen. Maybe nothing. Maybe nothing  _ could _ happen, because perhaps not completing a time loop is impossible. Who’s to say?”

“You are a very strange old man,” Astrid decided.

“Oh, don’t I hear  _ that _ a lot?” Merlin laughed. “But, seriously, I  _ will _ be needing the book.”

He deposited the copy they’d brought back into Astrid’s hands. She looked at it, a little dubiously.

“You think Braig’ll notice?” She asked Sean.

“I don’t think we should count on him  _ not _ noticing,” Sean said. “Still, we’ve got some time. Let’s do it.”

~*~*~*~

An hour later, they’d watched Merlin painstakingly copy the bookmark and banish it, alongside the book, twenty years into the past.

“Now!” Merlin said. “I’ve just done it, so let’s see how often  _ that _ happens!”

“What does that  _ mean _ ?” Astrid and Sean groaned in unison.

Merlin waved a hand, and what looked like a very strange bird bath floated over to them and filled with water. After a bit more hand-waving, this time accompanied by some muttering, a few scattered points of light appeared on the water.

“Oh, my,” Merlin said. “I see, I see.”

“I  _ don’t _ ,” Sean said.

“Ah,” Merlin said. “Well.” He waved his hand over the water, and it lit up with uncountable amounts of light, barely distinguishable from each other.

Astrid and Sean drew closer, fascinated.

“These are all the potentials for our… well, we’ll call it our  _ universe _ , although that term  _ technically  _ refers to something even bigger than this,” Merlin said. “Every timeline that could be is a speck of light.”

Astrid poked at the water, and the light jostled slightly.

“On a bigger surface, the points would be more distinct,” Merlin allowed. “Easier to pick out. But! That’s not the point. The point…” He waved his hand again, and the basin went back to how it had been before.

“ _ These _ are all the timelines where I sent that book back twenty years,” Merlin said. “Not many. That one in the center is us.”

“That’s… neat,” Sean allowed. “What does it do?”

“I can look into other timelines,” Merlin said. “Not  _ ours _ , but the other ones. Under the right conditions, I could use the futures of other timelines to predict the future of  _ this _ one.”

“You can’t just see the future?” Astrid asked.

“No,” Merlin said. “One must  _ never _ look into the future. Either you’ll be wrong, or you’ll lock the path that leads you there. Neither is desirable. Other timelines are a different story, but one’s own?”

Merlin shivered.

“A  _ horrible _ idea. Now, can I interest you kids in some ice cream?”

~*~*~*~

“It’s  _ not _ in the catalog,” Igni said. “I guess it  _ was _ the book that lady was looking for.”

“Huh,” Blayne said. “Well, that’s  _ her _ problem, I guess. It’s not here anymore.”

“I don’t think  _ she _ is, either,” Igni said. “So, that’s that out of the way. Anything else you think we should check out?”

“I was thinking I’d read some more of the books from the history section,” Blayne said. “Wanna come?”

“Sure.” Igni shrugged. “Sounds fun.”

The pair wandered out of the catalog room, chatting amiably. Blayne gave Arthur, who visited frequently even if he wasn’t  _ technically _ a resident of the garden, a quick wave as they passed him, and he waved back.

“I wonder what it’s like to be a king,” Igni said. “Sounds like a lot of work, huh?”

“Yeah,” Blayne said. “I’m surprised he and Hazel have time to come by so often. Happy, for Meredith and Ienzo, but surprised.”

Igni nodded.

They kept talking, all the way to the historical section.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the lighting in the picture could be better but in my defense im not used to drawing glowing stuff even though it is very cool. i will take no criticism on my depiction of Merlin, he is perfect and there is no argument on that.
> 
> Time stuff!! Originally I did a little write-up on how time stuff works here, but my authors notes don't count as full canon, as one might have inferred from reading some of them, so I decided to leave it out. I can say whatever I want in here. I can say that Sora is a digimon in this AU, and that it hasn't come up because it's not relevant to his journey. I can say that. Doesn't make it canon.


	10. Can I offer you a little salt for that wound?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've tried to take you lying down  
I clarified, tip-toed around  
Lines in the sand, clear and defined  
But you cross them every time

Meredith was trying to teach her son how to swim.

He was built to be in the water, she knew. His scales were just like her own, and he wasn’t buoyant like Arther or Hazel, or any of the other humans she’d ever met.

But he had legs, and there was no way to tell whether or not the gills under his rib cage were genuine or superficial without testing them, which he was understandably hesitant about.

Meredith did not have legs, and she swam under the surface for long periods of time. Arthur tried to teach him, but she knew that he had no prior experience with children beyond having been one once, and being a father scared him, a little. Hazel couldn’t swim at all.

Ienzo was cautious to the point of anxiety, even so young as he was, and Meredith wasn’t sure what she could do to help him.

As she watched him, from her position a few feet out into the water, he sat on the edge and watched her back.

“You know?” She said. “Arthur and Hazel are in town. Let’s go see them.”

“Okay,” Ienzo said, face brightening.

She swam to shore, quick as a blink, and climbed out onto the land, pulling herself into her wheelchair.

She loved her son, and she loved Arthur and Hazel, but there was so much she didn’t understand about humanity and its capacity to drown.

“Mery?” Ienzo said.

Meredith turned to look at him.

~*~*~*~

Sean came home late that evening, head low and mood lower. Any other day, Braig might have razzed him a little, about being out so late, but Braig didn’t come home at all that night.

“What’s wrong?” Blayne asked, as the kids curled up together. “What happened?”

“They don’t  _ know _ ,” Sean said, folding in on himself.

None of them was sure how to respond to that.

~*~*~*~

Igni and Astrid were awake and at the table when Braig stumbled in the following morning.

“What happened?” Astrid asked.

“You don’t want to hear it,” Braig said, and started to go towards his room.

Igni stood, getting in the way. “We  _ do _ ,” She said. “Whatever it is, Sean’s inconsolable.”

“Ah, hell,” Braig muttered. “Of course he’d have found out by now.”

“So, what happened?” Astrid crossed her arms.

“Meredith,” Braig said. “She’s, well…  _ not _ well.”

“How much ‘not well’?” Igni asked.

“Kinda… dead,” Braig allowed.

“What?” Igni yelped.

“Is anyone else hurt?” Astrid asked, rushing to Igni’s side.

“Ienzo’s devastated, obviously,” Braig sighed, taking a seat at the table. “He’s staying at the castle for the time being. Arthur and Hazel… they’ve been advised not to come back until we know what happened.”

Astrid and Igni didn’t say anything.

“It might have been an accident,” Braig said. “Looked like one, from what I saw. Just a… a whole lot of bad luck, all in one place.”

“Oh,” Igni said, finally. “I see, that’s…”

“It  _ is _ unfortunate,” Braig agreed. “I feel sorry for the poor kid, too, but, well, what are we supposed to do about him?”

~*~*~*~

A few days after the whole ordeal, Sean started accompanying Igni and Blayne to the castle, mostly to spend time with Ienzo. Astrid started coming after that as well, albeit irregularly. She was spending a decent amount of time with Merlin, too, and in other parts of town.

Things started to fall back into routine, and Blayne couldn’t help but remember the days after Ventus had left school for his apprenticeship.

The other boy had almost certainly been sent to a keyblade master, Blayne knew, which he supposed begged the question of why Braig had kept  _ them _ , even as he’d sent his own son away.

A cold dread grew in his chest, of something being horribly wrong, and he knew he could do nothing about it. 

He sighed, leaning back against the bookcase. He was so tired. He just wanted to stop losing people. He wanted the people he loved to stop losing people, too, maybe even more than he wanted it for himself somehow.

He was  _ so tired… _

~*~*~*~

_ “Are you sure this is a good idea?” _

_ Brain turned towards Ventus, and gave a short, mirthless laugh. “No,” He said. “This is a terrible idea. In fact, if you or anyone else has physically any other idea right now, I’ll do that instead in a heartbeat.” _

_ “You know we don’t,” Ventus said. “I just… I think we should tell the others you’re doing this.” _

_ “Ephemer already voiced his objections,” Brain said. “Skuld probably would, too.” _

_ “Yeah, because it’s a bad plan,” Ventus said. “You know this. I know this. They know this. How do we know this isn’t what Lauriam did?” _

_ Brain froze. _

_ “Let’s just… head back to the clocktower, okay?” Ventus gestured behind him, punctuating the suggestion. _

_ Brain sighed. “Someone has to try something,” He said. “I… I understand if you don’t want to be here for this. It’s scary. I’m scared.” _

_ “I don’t want you to do this alone,” Ventus said. “Well, preferably, you wouldn’t do it at all, but…” _

_ “Oh, we’re well past that,” Brain agreed. “We’ve been past that since Lauriam got… whatever happened to him. Fuck, what was he?” _

_ Ventus didn’t answer, but he did move to Brain’s side. _

_ “I appreciate the support.” _

_ “Yeah,” Ventus said. “Figured you would. Let’s do this.” _

_ Brain blinked. “You don’t have to--” _

_ “Well I am,” Ventus said. “What’s my other option? Becoming one of those things? Sitting around, waiting for whatever killed his sister to kill me, too?” _

~*~*~*~

Igni had the privilege of watching Bertie introduce Ienzo to Kairi. Ienzo, a young child who was used to being the youngest person in the room, was fascinated by the mere concept of a baby.

Kairi, in turn, seemed to love Ienzo. In baby terms, that meant that she stared at him a lot when he was around, and didn’t fuss so much when he held her as she did when anyone besides him or Bertie did.

Over all, the mutual fascination between them made things much easier, both for Bertie  _ and _ for Even, who had been made responsible for Ienzo during his time at the castle, however long that was going to be.

Igni couldn’t feel the time ticking by, not like she knew Blayne could so innately. Still, it did, nonetheless.

Everyone was beginning to grow up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spent the whole morning trying to find somewhere to watch promare. even if i find somewhere i fear i will be unable to watch it due to the flashing lights but ive gotta try. for the gays


	11. I saw shades of gray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tear down the thread that entwines truth and fantasy  
Dissect the lies they always told you to believe   
The shattered pieces of your old reality  
Are those remains the figments of your own identity?

**The bobbing bits of stories seemed like less of a threat, now that Igni knew how to control her abilities a little bit better. She was sitting against a bookshelf, now, reading the hearts in the castle, with a book open in front of her so no one who came across her would question her activity, when she realized something.**

**Braig’s double-heart wasn’t the only anomaly.**

**Most of the hearts in the Radiant Garden were mixtures, two opposing aspects in one. Igni supposed that was just how people were, as a whole, but… One of them was not.**

**Both aspects that she found in hearts were impossible for her to quantify in any meaningful, sensible capacity, but she’d taken to calling them ‘warm’ and ‘heavy’, after the sensations she experienced when she reached for them in her literate state. Braig, for all the care he took to be warm in his actions, had two hearts comprised mostly of ‘heavy’.**

**Two hearts raced through the libraries of the castle, one of them normal, and one of them only ‘warm’. They approached her, now, and she ** dropped out of her literate state and put the book in her hands away as Ienzo and Kairi rounded the corner.

“You’re it!” Kairi declared.

Ienzo groaned as Kairi ran off. Then, he noticed Igni.

“Hey, wait a--” Igni said, seeing what he was about to do.

“Igni!” He yelled, batting her arm. “You’re it!” Then he ran off.

She laughed. “Oh, you rascal!” She declared, chasing after him.

_ “Braig’s in the outer garden. A stranger has come to meet him.” _ Astrid was getting better, too, at making things intentional. Mostly, that meant messages throughout the day about largely inconsequential things, like the one she’d just sent.

Braig had mentioned they might all have powers. They hadn’t seen anything of what Sean’s might be, except perhaps him having a whole tail and being able to breathe underwater, and stuff. Blayne, too, they weren’t  _ sure _ , but Igni thought it might have something to do with his dreams. For his last birthday, he’d gotten a notebook, and he was using it to try and figure out the timeline of the narrative that they presented. She’d read it. It was weird.

She caught up, tapping Ienzo on the shoulder and speeding past him. “You’re it!” She declared.

~*~*~*~

Astrid stayed where she was, pressed against the wall, mostly out of sight as she watched Braig talk to the strange man. She might have moved closer, in an attempt to hear them, but she was worried they might change the subject if they saw her.

The stranger talked, and gestured, and Braig watched him. What she could see of his face looked unconvinced.

Braig said something, and the man waved it away, as if telling him not to worry about whatever it was.

Braig and the man began to walk, accidentally approaching her, and Astrid ducked further into her hiding spot.

“-- _ sure _ this will work?” Braig said as he came into hearing range. “Seems like a pretty big gamble.”

“I am quite sure,” The man said. “I have been planning and revising for quite some time.”

“And it’s safe,” Braig said.

“Most assuredly,” Xehanort said.

“For  _ everyone _ involved?” Braig said.

“Well, not one of my old classmates, but other than that, yes.”

“Right,” Braig said. “I keep forgetting. Three.”

Astrid bit back a gasp.

“Yes, three,” The stranger agreed. “Although, Eraqus is the only one of us who took on that many in turn.”

She began to regret  _ not _ gasping. She could have used the air.

Aqua, and Terra, and who? And was she upset it hadn’t been another one of them?

“Right,” Braig said, seemingly unfazed by the statement. 

She closed her eyes, focusing on Blayne, Sean, and Igni.  _ “The stranger knows Eraqus and Braig is not surprised.” _

~*~*~*~

_ “What about you, Brain?” A boy asked. _

_ “Hm?” Brain looked up from his book. “I said before, I haven’t--” _

_ “Told you he wasn’t paying attention,” The girl laughed. _

_ “Alright, you got me,” Brain said. “What are we doing now?” _

_ “We’re discussing interpersonal relationships,” Another boy said. “Family, friends, and that. Seeing if anyone knows anyone that anyone else knows.” _

_ “Besides you and Skuld, obviously,” Ven said. _

_ “Yeah,” The second boy agreed. _

_ “Besides, we can introduce each other to people we know,” The first boy said. “It will probably be… good for us.” _

_ “I can introduce you to Pura,” The second said. “I think you two would get along, actually.” _

_ “So, Brain,” Ven said, guiding the conversation back on track. “What about you? What’s your social circle like?” _

_ “Oh,” Brain said. “I mostly spent time with my family, before this, and most of them aren’t exactly…” _

_ “They’re not wielders?” Skuld prompted. _

_ “They are, they’re just…” He thought for a moment. “Not really that active, in union events. They tend to watch, more than participate, as much as they can.” _

_ “If you were all so self contained, how’d you get picked as a new union leader in the first place?” The first boy asked. The question was mild, but Brain recognized the meaning behind it. _

_ “I’ll admit to some nepotism,” Brain allowed. “My mother… knows some of the foretellers. I haven’t had the opportunity to ask her about it recently, but she might have had something to do with it.” _

_ “Hey,” Skuld said. “Ephemer, you talk to Master Ava sometimes, right?” _

_ “What?” Brain said. _

_ The second boy, Ephemer, opened his mouth to answer, but the world warped. Astrid’s voice came out of his mouth. _

_ “The stranger knows Eraqus and Braig is not surprised.” _

~*~*~*~

Blayne sat bolt upright, gasping. He hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep.

That wasn’t the most concerning part, however.

There was a lot to unpack with Astrid’s message, but he had an idea what to do. He bolted from the room, from the wing, from the castle.

“Blayne?” Aeleus asked as he passed, but Blayne kept running.

He ran until he found Astrid. “I need details,” He gasped.

She shushed him, and pointed around the corner. He looked.

Braig was there, and so indeed was a stranger like Astrid had said. At the distance they were at, he could barely hear them. Still…

His eyes widened when the stranger said the name “Terra”. He glanced to Astrid, confirming that she’d heard as well.

“Something is  _ definitely _ going on,” She said.

He nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recently, I've been practically speedrunning pokemon sword to unlock the cute outfits. My trainer is so adorable, y'all. The socks you get for beating the fairy gym really tie the outfit together.
> 
> I've actually got a playlist of the songs I'm using for the chapter titles, which I'll probably link in the last chapter, whenever that is. One of the videos on it is now blocked in my country, though, which is a little weird because it's one of those ones that YouTube puts up itself with like an algorithm or something? Anyways, I'll have to fix that at some point before then.


	12. I wish you could see the wicked truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I miss him don't you blame me  
That boy went stone cold crazy  
Caught up in camera lust he's  
Chasing that pappy pipe dreams

They discussed it with everyone, that evening, but they couldn’t figure out what to  _ do _ about the whole situation as a group.

Still, none of them felt comfortable leaving the situation well enough alone.

Igni, for her part, took advantage of her position as the youngest to glue herself to Braig’s side, doing anything from asking him questions about how his job worked to just silently being there.

“Did something happen?” He asked her. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine,” She insisted, and did not elaborate.

Sean took to spending more time in town again, keeping an eye out for the stranger based on Astrid and Blayne’s descriptions.

Astrid started visiting Merlin more, attempting to convince him to help her train her natural abilities. He was hesitant; his last apprentice had been Arthur, who had been through more than enough hardship. Still, eventually he relented.

Blayne, with nothing much else to do, dreamed, trying to glean something from the strange visions that might help him deal with real events.

~*~*~*~

_ “There’s nothing like that in any of the records I can find,” The boy said. “It’s-- It’s completely unprecedented.” _

_ “Do you think that’s what happened to his sister?” Ven asked, voice undercut with worry. “Do you think she--” _

_ “We can hope not, for her sake,” Brain said. “You saw him. He was empty, or good as. I’d rather be dead than be like that.” _

_ The girl looked up from her own book. “I think I found something,” She said. _

_ Everyone turned to her, and she showed them the page she was reading. _

_ “I will not be revising my previous statement,” Brain decided. “In fact, I think I might throw up.” _

~*~*~*~

Blayne woke up and rubbed his eyes, sitting up. He regretted the motion; his stomach turned, reminding him of the revulsion he’d felt in his dream. He managed not to throw up, though. That was a plus.

Igni groaned, a little, sliding a bit so she was in the warm spot he’d vacated.

He krept out of bed, out of the room, and into the kitchen. The pre-dawn light wasn’t quite enough to see by, so he made his way through largely by feel. He reached the sink, hands trembling, before his stomach turned again and he collapsed against it.

He pushed himself upright, and shakily managed to get a drink of water.

There. That was better.

That was…

~*~*~*~

“Oh,” The voice said, and everyone turned. “I’m the last person here. I hope I’m not late.”

“Not at all,” Ven said. “Nice to meet you!”

The new arrival, a pink haired boy, nodded. “Likewise.”

~*~*~*~

_ Blayne awoke curled around himself on the floor, gasping. _

_ “Don’t worry,” He breathed. “It’s not like our schedule’s that tight.” _

_ A hand hauled him bodily into a chair, and there was a face in front of him but he didn’t know who it was. Words were spoken, but he could not hear them. _

_ He answered on instinct. “So, where to? This place is kind of bumming me out.” _

_ The hand that had put him in the chair reached up and closed his eyes. _

~*~*~*~

“You were picked to clean up the toys so they’d still be there for the next game,” The boy who wasn’t Lauriam anymore said.

“What do you mean?” Skuld asked. She barely held back from a full on demand, but Brain was still impressed by the effort.

“You and her,” Not-Lauriam said. “All chosen to keep things running while our forebears went on to the next event that was actually going to be  _ important _ . You’re meant to try to oil the machine until they come back.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Ven said. “Please, Lauriam--”

“First mistake,” Not-Lauriam said dully. Despite the fact that he’d interrupted Ven, he didn’t sound like he cared. “Many more to follow from all of you, I’d assume.”

“‘Try to’ oil the machine until they come back?” Brain asked, a horrible thought forming inside of him. “‘Many more’ mistakes?”

Not-Lauriam nodded, and his head lolled back, a bit. “Yeah, you would be the one to figure it out, huh? Guess that’s why she called you that.”

Brain summoned his keyblade on instinct, his knuckles going white with the force of his grip on it.

“Brain?”

~*~*~*~

_ “Brain? Come on, kid, wake up proper.” The man was shaking his shoulder when Blayne’s eyes snapped open. _

_ “What the hell are you talking about?” He hissed, teeth gritted with rage and effort. _

_ “You want to be lucid when the others get here, don’t you?” The man asked. “Don’t retreat on me. Please be responding to me and not whatever you saw.” _

_ “How do you know her?” Blayne’s voice was low. _

_ “Damnit,” The man said. “Seers are alright, I guess, but the last thing anyone needs to be right now is an oracle.” _

_ He brushed Blayne’s eyes closed again. _

~*~*~*~

“Brain! Ven!”

“Skuld?” The two boys whirled, surprise plain on their faces and in their voices.

“I’m coming with you,” She said. “Ephemer told me what you were doing. I think he wanted me to help him stop you, but, well…” She trailed off, as she caught up with them, taking a few deep breaths before continuing. “I like his plan even less.”

Brain and Ven glanced to each other.

“What’s  _ he _ doing?” Brain asked, not sure he wanted to know.

“Retracing Lauriam’s steps,” Skuld said. “To the end.”

“He’s going to become one of those things,” Ven breathed.

Skuld nodded. “There’s not much on them, but what there is… he thinks they might be immortal. At least a little bit.”

“I suddenly feel a lot better about  _ my _ plan, which isn’t something I expected to happen,” Brain said. “So, I guess that’s  _ one _ thing he’s accomplished.”

Skuld gave a short, mirthless laugh, clearly trying not to sound as worried as she was.

~*~*~*~

Blayne’s face stung, and he coughed.

“Damnit, you’re coming back to now and you’re staying in it,” Braig growled.

“What the fuck?” Blayne whined. “You hit me.”

“Maybe,” Braig said. “Is now real to you? Are you awake, and not approximating it?”

Blayne stood, putting his hand over his face and glaring. Almost absently, he noted that there was a certain, receding paleness around Braig’s wrist, as though the blood flow had been restricted there until very recently. “You  _ hit _ me,” He said again, and he wasn’t sure whether he was trying to make Braig understand the words or trying to understand them himself.

“Yeah,” Braig admitted. “But we really  _ don’t _ need an oracle.”

Blayne rubbed at his face a little longer, but his curiosity got the better of his anger. “What do you mean by that? What’s an oracle?”

“A seer,” Braig said. “One that’s so divorced from reality they can’t function anymore. You understand now, right, Brain?”

“You didn’t have to hit me,” Blayne said. Then, a thought struck him. “That  _ is _ the future?”

“One of them, most likely,” Braig said. “Might be ours. Might not be. Seers aren’t infallible.”

Blayne slumped against the wall, sighing. “So,” He said. “The next question, I guess, is when I meet my mother.”

Braig blinked. “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blayne: that *is* the future, though, right?  
Me: hey you're not allowed outside of continuity! you have enough issues  
Blayne: =.=


	13. To hear the sounds of people

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And I don't want your pity  
I just want somebody near me  
Guess I'm a coward  
I just want to feel alright

Sean yawned, stretching and looking around the room. It was quiet. Quieter than it usually was in the morning, which he soon attributed to the fact that Blayne and Astrid were already up somewhere.

Sean climbed into his chair and rolled out of the room.

Blayne and Astrid were throwing bits of waffles at each other, at the table, and mostly managing to catch the bits in their mouths.

“Hey,” Sean said. “What’s up?”

“Braig said Blayne has to do ‘presence of mind exercises’,” Astrid said. “So I’m throwing stuff at him.”

Sean shrugged. “Makes sense to me.” He threw a whole waffle at Blayne, hitting the other boy full in the face. “Hm. Needs improvement.”

Blayne made disgruntled noises from behind the waffle. Astrid laughed.

Blayne removed the waffle, tossing it back at Sean. “We’re not throwing whole waffles, you jerk.”

“Fascinating,” Sean said. “Next you’ll be telling me you aren’t using syrup.”

“Sean, don’t--” Blayne tried, but stopped as a syrupy chunk of waffle hit his cheek.

Astrid, who had thrown it, snorted.

“When’s Igni getting up?” Blayne sighed. “I need a mature perspective on this.”

“She’s still asleep,” Sean said. “Or… maybe she’s just hanging out. Didn’t check.”

“Phooey,” Blayne said. “What about--”

There was a thump. Then there was more thudding. Then Igni appeared in the doorway, panting.

“What’s wrong?” Astrid asked.

Igni didn’t answer, running to the door. The others followed her, and the four of them rushing through town.

Soon, they arrived at an alleyway. In the back of it, someone sat up, groaning.

“What happened?” Sean asked.

“They just… showed up,” Igni said.

The four of them looked at each other, curiosity giving way to wariness as the person in the alley turned to look at them with empty eyes.

Cautiously, Blayne stepped forward. “Are… you alright?” He asked, reaching slowly to help them up.

They did not take his hand. “Who--” They began, cutting off at the rawness in their voice. It sounded like they hadn’t spoken for a very long time. They coughed, trying again. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“My name is Blayne,” Blayne said. “These are my siblings, Astrid, Sean, and Igni. What’s your name?”

“I…” They said. “I don’t remember.”

They took Blayne’s hand, pushing themself upward. Blayne did not move.

“Blayne?” Igni asked, concern rising in her voice.

~*~*~*~

_ “-- without pictures--” _

~*~*~*~

_ “-- strangest dream--” _

~*~*~*~

_ “-- going back--” _

~*~*~*~

_ “--can’t find--” _

~*~*~*~

_ “-- Edith, please--” _

~*~*~*~

“Blayne,” Igni said. “Look at me.”

He nearly did, the ghosts of something seen fading from his eyes, but he wasn’t  _ really _ looking  _ at _ her, just… where she was. He stood, brushing himself off.

Astrid was helping the stranger towards the exit of the alley. They walked slowly, stiffly, as though the movement was unfamiliar to them.

The movement, the dead eyes, sparked something in Blayne’s mind, and he stiffened.

“You’re really freaking me out,” Igni said. “Blayne.”

The stranger turned, looking at them, and Blayne couldn’t  _ see _ the teeth but he knew they were there and too big and this stranger was one of those  _ things like Lauriam and was leaning on his sister and-- _

He stumbled, hand going to his head.

“Blayne!” He heard three voices say. His family.

“I’m fine,” He said. “Really, I just… I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“You don’t  _ seem fine,” Sean said. “Really, you seem rather a bit not _ fine.”

“I just need to lie down,” Blayne said. “And maybe throw up a little.”

“I’ll take him home,” Sean said, looking at Astrid. “You find Braig. He’ll know what to do, right?”

“Here’s hoping,” Astrid said, and she and Igni shepherded the-- Blayne wasn’t sure how to refer to the new arrival anymore-- away.

Sean, for his part, started lightly bumping Blayne’s legs to get him moving back to the house. Blayne let himself be gently bullied, all the way back to bed.

~*~*~*~

Astrid, Igni, and the stranger went to the castle. Aeleus and Dilan were on guard duty just then, so it was a bit more difficult than it had to be to discuss the situation.

“They just  _ showed up _ ,” Igni said. “I don’t know how, and clearly they don’t, either, but…”

Aeleus and Dilan looked at each other, and the latter rushed into the castle, no doubt seeking Ansem for further instruction. Astrid and Igni resigned themselves to wait.

When Dilan arrived back, Ansem and Braig at his heels, the stranger waved a little.

“I see,” Ansem said. “What is your name?”

“I don’t remember,” The stranger said. “What’s yours?”

“Ansem,” Ansem said. “There are some who call me ‘Ansem the Wise’.”

“Cool, okay,” The stranger said. “Is this one of those nicknames you just kind of picked up? Or did you pick it yourself and start having people call you that?”

Ansem laughed. “Come inside,” He said. “We have much to discuss.”

~*~*~*~

More people started showing up, after that. It seemed every other week someone (usually Igni) was helping some new stranger up to the castle.

Blayne visited every one of them, and they were all the same-- empty eyes and too large teeth and  _ just _ inhuman enough to see, if you were paying attention.

He was half expecting to see the one that was almost Lauriam, but he scolded himself out of the thought every time it came up. That was the future.

Wasn’t it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blayne: that IS the future tho right  
Me: >:3c  
Blayne: (0.0;)


	14. And off we go to play telephone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Early in the morning, before the sun could rise  
Keeping to myself almost felt like a disguise  
I couldn't be the one to tell you what was off that day  
Opening my mouth is the most dangerous game

Astrid sat on the roof, watching the meteor shower. It had been an unexpected thing, taking everyone by surprise all the more by the sheer amount of meteors. They filled the sky, bright and dazzling and many, and she wondered how they hadn’t seen them coming.

Below her, Igni ran off into town. Another amnesiatic stranger, then. Braig had been trying to stop her from going to them, recently, but she was still so often the first to find them.

Something landed on the roof next to Astrid, and she turned. A small block sat there, content as anything inanimate could be. She picked it up. The material was strange, like nothing she knew. Curious.

Above her, meteors continued to fall.

~*~*~*~

Igni snagged Blayne as she passed him on the street, and he didn’t argue. The pair ran, Igni leading the way to the new arrival.

“Braig’s been acting weirder and weirder,” Blayne said. “You’ve noticed, too, right?”

“Yeah,” Igni agreed. “I think he thought we’d be too distracted with your new nickname to notice.”

“Or maybe he thought the change was slow enough,” Blayne said. “I  _ have _ been hearing that nickname in my visions, though.”

“You also heard Astrid’s voice from someone who was decidedly  _ not _ Astrid,” Igni said. “I don’t think those are infallible.”

“Astrid is psychic,” Blayne said defensively.

“I’m just saying, they’re still dreams.”

They rounded the corner, into the square, and slowed as they approached the unconscious form.

“I’ve seen her,” Blayne said, kneeling.

“What’s her name?” Igni knelt, too, starting to lift her.

“I-- wait, no,” Brain said. “It wouldn’t be her. Look at her teeth.” Blayne reached out and drew the girl’s lip aside, revealing large, pointed teeth. Like all the strangers. Like the boy who wasn’t Lauriam.

“Yeah, they’re all like that,” Igni said. “You said it yourself.”

“Yeah, but…” Blayne said. Then a thought struck him. “Igni, how can you always tell where  _ they _ are? What makes  _ them _ so different from everyone here on  _ that _ level?”

Igni glanced away from him. “Not now, okay?” She said. “I’ll tell you on the way home.”

~*~*~*~

“So…” Blayne said.

“Imagine a fire,” Igni said. “Well, no, uh… a lot of fires, but some of them are… okay, that’s not the point.”

They walked slower through the town, back home. Blayne looked around them, as Igni gathered the words for her explanation. It was a nice night.

“Most of the fires are the same size,” Igni said finally. “But the strangers just have a spark, when they arrive. I’ve visited them at the castle, and some of the ones who’ve been around longer have more, but… when they get here, it’s just a spark. Just a little bit.”

“Just a little bit of a heart?” Blayne asked.

“Yes?” Igni said. “But it’s like… the start of one. You know?”

“Hm,” Blayne said. “They don’t  _ look _ any different.”

“I think that’s just how they’re like,” Igni said.

“But I saw--” Blayne began.

“I  _ know _ ,” Igni said. “Maybe they  _ do _ change, but I don’t think it’s a thing that happens naturally.”

“I don’t think  _ they’re _ a thing that happens naturally,” Blayne shot back.

“Okay,  _ Brainiac _ .” Igni shoved him lightly.

He laughed and shoved her back.

~*~*~*~

“So,” Sean said.

The four kids were sitting around their room.

“So,” Igni said.

“So, we need to talk about what we’re going to do about this situation,” Sean said. “Braig’s plotting something with someone who knows Eraqus, random people who barely have hearts that give Blayne fragmented visions when he gets too close keep showing up, and we’re out of macaroni. These are intolerable living conditions.”

“The third thing was gonna be that book,” Astrid reminded him.

“The macaroni is more important,” Sean said. “But yes, also there is the book predicting an impending and world-shattering apocalypse in about twelve years or so.”

“I feel like that is perhaps a little bit more important than the macaroni,” Blayne said.

“Ah,” Igni said. “But see, we are out of macaroni  _ right now _ .”

“That is true,” Blayne allowed. “Objection withdrawn.”

“Hey, Blayne, why haven’t you had any visions of the war?” Astrid asked. “You’d think your magic powers would warn you of something of that.”

“I’ve had post-war visions, I think,” Blayne said. “Although… some of those should have happened by now.”

“Maybe they’re from another timeline, where the war happened earlier,” Sean said.

“Maybe reincarnation is real,” Igni said.

“Implying that Ven and I die  _ really _ soon and get reincarnated instantly, or that there is a third war in the future, neither of which I am particularly fond of,” Blayne said.

Astrid’s eyes lit up. “Option three,” She said.

Everyone turned to her.

“You’re  _ not _ seeing the future,” She said. “You’re seeing the events surrounding the  _ first _ war.”

Everyone considered that.

“You know,” Blayne said. “That makes a lot more sense. I’m surprised we didn’t think of this earlier…”

“There’s a ‘but’,” Sean said.

“Skuld wasn’t going to become one of those-- like the strangers are,” Blayne said. “But we found, well…”

“Things change, or go wrong sometimes,” Igni said. “Or maybe there’s more we don’t get yet. No shame.”

They sat for a while.

“What  _ do _ we do about the book, though?” Astrid asked. “I mean, theoretically, we could do absolutely nothing, but that doesn’t really sit right with me.”

“No, we  _ should _ do something,” Sean said. “I mean, us, Merlin, and maybe Braig are the only people who know what’s going on, and Braig seems busy with that other guy.”

~*~*~*~

_ “It’s time for Dyme to go now.” _

_ The two kids looked up from the toys they’d been playing with. _

_ “Five more minutes?” Brain asked. _

_ “No,” Dyme’s cousin said. “We have a lot to do before we go home.” _

_ “But Professor Hamasaki’s about to invent a new form of CRISPR!” Dyme whined. “Pleeeeaaaase?” _

_ “Professor Hamasaki can invent a new form of CRISPR next week,” Brain’s mother said soothingly. _

_ “But that’s next week!” Brain said. _

_ The two adults looked at them. _

_ “Alright,” Dyme’s cousin sighed. “Five more minutes, but then we have to go.” _

_ The two adults drew back, and Brain and Dyme pretended to turn back to their game. _

_ “So, what do you think of the whole Union thing?” Dyme’s cousin muttered. _

_ “I dunno about it, really,” Brains mother said. “I mean, we’re supposed to be looking for kids around their age, but… it seems awfully young, doesn’t it?” _

_ Dyme’s cousin shrugged. “We started younger.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really like the idea of kids in fantasy-type settings playing modern science type games the same way we play knights and princesses and the like when we're younger. I think there's a lot of untapped potential there.


	15. Toast to the ones that we lost on the way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's to the ones that we got  
Cheers to the wish you were here but you're not  
Because the drinks bring back all the memories  
Of everything we've been through

Igni coughed again, throat raw and eyes red.

“Yup,” Braig said. “She’s definitely come down with something.”

“Never would have guessed,” Sean deadpanned.

Igni coughed, but it almost sounded like a laugh.

“Someone has to stay home with her,” Blayne said. “I could, but…”

“No, you couldn’t,” Braig said. “You could stay home, but I don’t trust you not to go oracle while we’re gone. You’re not caretaker material.”

“No,” Blayne agreed.

“I’ll stay,” Sean said. “Not like I’ve got much else to do.”

“Speaking of else to do, I should get going,” Astrid said. “I’ll be back this afternoon.”

“I’ll be back when I’m done with work,” Braig said. “If you need me, just yell.”

The two of them left, and Sean turned to Blayne. “Is there anything you can do  _ right now _ to fuck up the predictions?”

“Uh,” Blayne said. “If I knew where the hero was, maybe, but I don’t. Hold on.”

He ran to Braig’s personal library, and snagged the book, returning to the bedroom as he flipped to the point of time that they were at.

“Anything after here is fair game?” Sean asked.

Blayne nodded.

“Great,” Sean said. “Can you go, like, make some soup or something?”

Igni made a ‘please’ motion.

Blayne nodded again, and ran to the kitchen.

~*~*~*~

Astrid, for her part, had looked through the book on her own a few nights before, and was putting a plan into motion using a few of the more interesting spells she’d convinced Merlin to teach her.

The book had mentioned this place very specifically.

_ ‘The vessel to be will come to be tricked for the second time, underground at the edge of the garden, due winter from its center. [◼️◼️◼️◼️]’ _ \-- here the book was damaged, unfortunately--  _ ‘will battle him there, at the behest of No Heart and of this writing, and the vessel will defeat him and slip further into darkness.’ _

So she used her spells, hoping to change the outcome, or at least shift it enough to affect other things later on.

Parts of the floor became less than solid. Certain points would let out horrific grating sounds when people got too close.

She ducked behind a pillar as she heard voices approach.

“So, what happens afterwards?” Braig asked.

“Afterwards, you prepare to meet us at the graveyard,” The stranger said. He was the same one that had been there before.

Astrid shut her eyes.  _ “The stranger is back.” _

“Okay, what do we do there, though?” Braig asked.

Astrid stayed as still as she could, but she quaked with rage.  _ “You know,” _ She wanted to spit at him.  _ “You know what is going on. You know what this is.” _

“You keep Aqua out of the way,” The stranger said.

Astrid bit down on her lip, hard, clamping her hands over her mouth. But the stranger wasn’t done.

“I don’t know whether she would try to intervene for Terra or Ventus first, but she’s not a variable I want unaccounted for.”

Tears began to gather at the corners of Astrid’s eyes.

_ “Terra, Aqua, and Ventus are in danger. Braig is a threat.” _

She hoped the others could hear.

~*~*~*~

_ Brain looked up from the list, and looked back at Ephemer. _

_ “We were wrong,” He said. “Not all of us were supposed to be here.” _

_ “What?” Ephemer asked. “But-- Master Ava told us all personally, didn’t she?” _

_ “Well, evidently, she also told Strelitzia personally,” Brain said. _

_ “Lauriam’s sister?” Ephemer asked. _

_ Brain nodded. “What, you know a different Strelitzia?” _

_ “No, but…” Ephemer shook his head. “I guess finding out what happened to her just got moved to the top of our list of priorities, huh?” _

_ “No,” Brain said. “But it’s up there.” _

_ “Well, then what do you think is first?” _

_ “Ephemer, where are Skuld and Ventus right now?” _

_ “I don’t know,” Ephemer said. “It’s not like we’ve been insisting on checking in with each other.” _

_ “We should start,” Brain said. “But first, we need to find them.” _

_ Ephemer looked at Brain, fear starting to show through on his expression. He opened his mouth to ask a question, and the world froze. _

_ Astrid’s voice cut through it, and it shattered like glass. _

~*~*~*~

Brain came to, having managed to continue stirring a pot of soup through his whole vision. He felt that this was a marked improvement, as he was no longer collapsing whenever they hit him by surprise.

However, there were other priorities at that point.

He took the soup off the stove, and grabbed a stack of bowls and a few spoons, heading back to the bedroom.

“You hear Astrid’s message?” Sean asked.

“Yeah,” Blayne said. “I think we should get ready to move out soon, what about you two?”

Sean and Igni nodded as Sean took care of the important task of ladelling out soup for the lot of them.

The three of them ate in silence, then, as they all thought about the fact that they were, once again, going to be losing a home.

“You know,” Igni said, and her brothers winced at the rough illness that was slicing her voice to ribbons. “We really deserve better than this.”

“No kidding,” Blayne said.

~*~*~*~

For the first time in seven years, Astrid saw Terra.

He was taller and broader than she remembered, but there was no question that he was the same person he’d once been.

She stayed hidden behind a pillar only a few yards away from where the stranger had been chained up, wondering what would happen if she revealed herself.

Then, Braig drew his gun, and she wasn’t thinking anymore.

Terra had blocked three hits, when Astrid landed in front of him, standing in the way.

The bullets stopped.

“What are you doing?” Braig asked.

Behind her, Terra said nothing.

“What are  _ you _ doing?” She demanded.

“You’ll thank me someday,” Braig said, jumping down from where he’d been perched and walking towards them.

“No, I won’t,” She said. “I won’t thank you. In fact,  _ if you hurt Terra, I will never forgive you _ .”

Braig sighed as he reached them, reaching out and putting his hand on Astrid’s shoulder.

She tried to shrug him off, but his grip tightened.

“I don’t have time to make you understand,” He said, and darkness erupted around her.

“Astrid!” Terra yelled.

Then everything around her was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since it's relevant, and since the news broke relatively recently, let's talk about the new UX plot twist! I'll be vague but yall probably know
> 
> He was my second guess for the false successor, really. (And if you don't believe me you can go to my kh blog and see the post where I detail my opinions on my first guess) I didn't suspect him as much largely because of the fact that I personally could think of more interesting (and painful 👀👀👀) things to do with my first guess (which is why my guess one is the fake in this au's timeline, although it's only really come up vaguely once or twice at this point).
> 
> Eventually I want to get us all on the same page with how timelines and time travel work in this au. I shamelessly reworked the system using concepts from an older au I haven't posted (but hope to finish and put up someday, maybe), so hopefully breathing doesn't cause 15 time paradoxes now. I just have to figure out where to share this info that won't be, like, fucked up and hard to read. At this point the most solid plan I have for that is Yen Sid vagueblogging about some of the more relevant information lmao


	16. And we knew that when it happened every soul aboard had died

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are stories of the Dutchman, the Celeste and Barnham's Pride  
There are stories of the Horseman and the Lady at his side  
But the tale that makes my blood run cold, the more because it's true  
Is the tale of Jayme Dawson and his crew  
Yes, the tale of Dawson's Christian and her crew

_ Well, not everything around her was gone. _

_ Her body was ripped away from the scene, but Astrid clung to Terra, clung to his senses, even as her own left her behind. _

_ She could feel her body, distantly, but her spirit touched Terra’s eyes and ears, and shared them. _

_ “What did you do to her?” Terra demanded, swiping at Braig as the man jumped away again. _

_ “Oh, what, you want to know?” Braig taunted. _

_ Terra yelled, charging at Braig, and in his rage Astrid lost her grip and fell _ back into her body.

She sat up, in one of the guest rooms of the castle. Briefly, she expected to see one of the almost-humans that had been brought there, but she shook herself out of that, reminding herself that they were staying in the observation rooms now.

She’d never  _ seen _ any of the observation rooms, actually. That was a little weird.

Her chest hurt. She rubbed at it, but the sensation didn’t go away.

Sighing, she stood, looking around the room. She was thirsty.

The guest rooms had bathrooms off of them. She could get water from the sink, she decided, so she went to do so.

She was filling the cup when she glanced to the mirror.

Her reflection was wrong. Like a drawing by someone who knew her, almost enough to capture her from memory, but not quite.

She leaned forward, looking closer.

Her eyes were emptied of some of their color. Stomach dropping, she opened her mouth. Her teeth were sharper than they had been. Not as sharp as the almost-humans that had been showing up, that her brother was so worried about, but… certainly more pointed than they had been.

She shut her eyes, trying to will the changes away. She shouldn’t have looked that that. That wasn’t her face.

Her chest ached more.

When she looked again, she looked normal.

Am I ashamed of her?

The thought inserted itself so naturally into her mind that for a moment she didn’t even realize the oddity of it until she’d drained her cup.

She managed not to drop it, which was an accomplishment.

She wasn’t sure what it meant.

Am I ashamed of her? Am I ashamed of holding on like that?

Astrid shook her head, and the pain in her chest faded.

She left the guest room, and went down to the archives.

“Oh, Astrid, dear!” Bertie said. “Where’s your sister?”

“She’s sick today,” Astrid said, and maybe she would have flinched from the flatness in the bottom of her voice, but she didn’t, which was its own form of concerning.

“You sound tired, dear,” Bertie said. “Have you been taking care of her?”

“No,” Astrid said. “I should go home now, though. Just figured someone should tell you.”

“I appreciate that,” Bertie said. “Are you alright?”

Astrid nodded. “Just tired, I think. Like you said.”

“Go get some rest, dear,” Bertie said.

~*~*~*~

Astrid got home to find her siblings had packed all their things.

“Terra was here today,” She said, picking up her bag. “Braig fought him.”

“He was  _ here _ ?” Brain asked, suddenly in front of her.

She nodded.

“Why didn’t you  _ say _ something?” His eyes were filling with tears.

She looked away from him. Her chest hurt. “I was… distracted,” She said. “I tried to stop it.”

“Astrid,” Igni said, and she sounded a  _ little _ better than she had that morning. “You’re missing part of your heart. It’s broken, and all your warmth got blown out.”

“Oh,” Astrid said. “So that’s what happened.”

“Did-- Did Braig do it?” Brain asked. “I’ll kill him for you, if he did.”

“Don’t worry about it,” She said. “I’ll be fine.”

“She’s right,” Sean said. “We have to get out of here before he gets back. Who knows what he might do next.”

“The man he was with mentioned a graveyard,” Astrid said. “Terra, Aqua, and Ventus will be there.”

“Should we look for it?” Brain asked.

“Maybe,” Astrid said. “But maybe we should look a little further ahead for what to change.”

“I want to ruin him,” Brain said.

“So do I,” Astrid said.

~*~*~*~

Astrid was not in the castle, Luxu found with annoyance when he got back from dealing with the events that concerned the future.

He asked after her, as he was getting his eye patched up, to discover that she had supposedly checked in with Bertie before heading home.

So, when his guard shift was over, and he’d given a falsified report stating that his injury was from one of the monsters that had been running around that day (Unversed, Xehanort had called them), he went home.

All four of the children were gone, almost as though they’d never been there in the first place.

The idea that they would run off, moreso that they would do so while Igni was sick, had not occurred to him, although he supposed it should have.

He’d known Brain when the boy had been born as Ava’s son. He was like that.

He checked his own library, briefly, and discovered to his relief that they hadn’t taken  _ The Book of Prophecies _ . At least he had that, still.

He went back to the castle, informing his fellow guards that the four were missing, and ended up crashing in one of the guest bedrooms.

A few hours later, he woke up and talked to Bertie. She admitted that Astrid had been acting oddly, but she maintained that the girl had just seemed tired.

She hadn’t been supposed to be tired. She should have been completely fine.

He supposed it didn’t mean much, that he hadn’t  _ meant _ to hurt her. She was still a child, and her siblings were still children, and children had a certain way of looking at the world. Morality was a limited palette to them, not a sliding scale.

It  _ would _ be troublesome, losing track of Brain like that, Luxu figured. Things were so much  _ easier _ when he knew where all the pieces were.

Things had gone so smoothly until Astrid had stepped in the way. He was sure of it. He’d had a handle on things.

Whatever.

Everyone would play their parts.

He’d make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: yeah my buffer's running out this is coming off regular updates  
Me:  
Me: *writes three more chapters*  
Me: oh
> 
> Me, a bit later: hm I'm going to be busy this weekend idk how I'll post the update  
Me:  
Me: oh RIGHT i already said i wasnt gonna
> 
> and now im here at the thing, posting the update while i rest up from activities. i do NOT have the energy reserves i thought i did when i said i wanted to come lmao. i am having a good time!! i just can't do everything


	17. The saddest part is that you won't even hear this song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Should I apologize for giving up?  
Should I be sorry that I've had enough?  
Of broken promises, excessive harsh judgements  
And subtle rejections

The first hurdle was leaving the garden, but Astrid had pointed out that they could probably pester Merlin into helping them.

Presently, the four of them sat in his house, reading a book he’d left out on the table and waiting for him to get back from whatever he was up to.

“Of all the times for him not to be here when I come to call,” Astrid said.

“Well, we can’t win them all,” Sean said. “This rabbit’s pretty funny, though.”

“The funny rabbit does not change the fact that we should get going,” Blayne said. “Soon. And as far away as we can.”

Igni nodded.

At that point the door opened, revealing Merlin and Aeleus.

“Merlin,” Aeleus said.

“Just a moment,” Merlin said. “What are you kids doing in here?”

“Uh,” Three voices said in intellectual unison.

“Astrid’s broken,” Igni managed.

“She _ seems _ fine,” Aeleus said dubiously. “Braig’s worried about you four, you know.”

“Is he, though?” Sean asked.

“Yes,” Aeleus said. “What’s gotten into you all? Why did you break into Merlin’s house?”

“We didn’t break anything,” Blayne protested.

“That’s not what that--” Aeleus began, but he cut off as Astrid extended a hand, causing him to collapse into sleep.

“When did you pick that one up?” Merlin asked, as a broom swept Aeleus out of the door, which closed.

“Physical memory,” She said. “It’s been used on me enough.”

Merlin looked at her for a long moment, before extending a hand of his own.

Astrid changed, ever so slightly.

“Hm,” Merlin said. “Your sister might be right.”

“She usually is,” Astrid agreed, a trickle of blood leaking out of her mouth from where her sharpening teeth had cut her skin. Then she closed her eyes, and she returned to normal.

“Merlin, please,” Sean said. “We have to get away from here.”

“What happened, children?” Merlin asked. “Aeleus was right about one thing; you _ are _ acting strangely. And Astrid…”

They told him. His expression hardened.

“I see,” He said. “Yes, I think it is a good idea for you to go.”

“How far can you get us?” Blayne asked.

“As far as you can think,” Merlin said, holding up a small object before handing it to Igni. “All of you hold on when you start it.”

“How do we do that?” Sean asked as Astrid guided his hand to one of Igni’s wrists and took hold of Blayne’s shoulder.

“Simply wish,” Merlin said.

Blayne was about to ask another question when the object pulsed with light and the world dropped away from them.

~*~*~*~

Igni awoke in an ocean of sheets and blankets, cold and wet and uncomfortable. She tried to groan, but her throat strenuously objected, and she ended up in a fit of coughing instead.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Someone said.

She didn’t know who that was. She didn’t like that.

“What were you doing on that beach?”

Igni curled under the blankets. She wasn’t up to dealing with this.

~*~*~*~

Brain sat bolt upright, startling the person who had been charged with dusting something nearby the bed he was in.

“Where’s my family?” He demanded. “Do you know?”

The person held their duster in front of them defensively.

Brain stopped, took a deep breath, and tried again. “Did I arrive here with other people?”

The person nodded, slowly. “Two of them,” They said.

Brain’s stomach dropped. “Two…?”

“Two, sir.”

“Oh,” Brain said.

“Sir?”

“There were four of us,” He said. “Who else is here?”

~*~*~*~

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Astrid said.

“I fail to see the disconnect,” The man said. “You and your companions were found on the beach by fishermen, and brought here.”

“And this is where everyone strange is brought,” Astrid said.

“Yes,” The man said. “This _ is _ the castle.”

“Ah.” Understanding dawned. “This place is like the garden, still.”

“Is this garden your homeland?” The man asked.

Astrid considered that. “It wasn’t,” She said. “Then it was. Now it’s not, again.”

“Ah,” The man said. “You have had a rough life, then.”

“I appreciate your concern, and your hospitality,” Astrid said. “But I would like to see my family, now.”

~*~*~*~

The three of them ended up gathered in Igni’s room.

“So it’s Sean that’s missing,” Brain said.

“Seems so,” Astrid said. “We need to find him, and that thing Merlin gave us.”

“Yeah, where _ is _ that?” Igni muttered.

“Let’s hope he has it,” Brain said. “It’ll be easier.”

~*~*~*~

The saltwater drew more scales out of his skin, Sean noted, which made it all the stranger that the people around him had less scales than he did. They were… They were _ similar _, he decided, but not the same.

Triton’s castle was strange and wonderful and terrifyingly easy for him to be at home in, and his siblings were not and could not ever be there.

They believed him, when he said he was from a distant sea. He supposed that was because it was, on some level, true. But he had no memory of swimming in the ocean. He vaguely, barely remembered a time before Eraqus. It contained no taste of brine.

“No talk of humans,” Triton warned him. “Not to anyone. They are dangerous, and we mustn’t frighten the children.”

“Your Majesty, I have three human siblings,” Sean shot back. “The main threat is my brother losing track of what’s the present and what’s his past life as a child bureaucrat.”

“_ Why _ would humans place a _ child _ in charge?” Triton exploded. “Have they _ no _ concept of a regency?”

“He was probably meant to fail, but that was, like, a thousand years ago in a magic town, so I don’t think it really matters anymore.” Sean shrugged.

“They’re not just _ dangerous _ , they’re _ stupid _!” Triton said, not paying attention anymore.

“This… is gonna be a problem someday,” Sean muttered to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are now in the next phase of the story. i have no idea how many disney worlds this lot is going to go to but they're jumping around until they've suitably fucked something up for luxu send tweet


	18. The weather's cold and the water's freezing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stay still with me  
My company  
And let's just be  
Still silently

“You like the ocean?” The boy asked, popping up next to Igni as she looked out from the balcony of her guestroom there.

She nodded. Speech was still difficult for her, then, but she was assured a full recovery, and she couldn’t bear to be in bed much longer.

“I think it’s pretty,” The boy said. “I wonder what’s in it, except lots of fish?”

Igni shrugged, but she knew at least one thing; her brother was out there, somewhere, and perhaps the artefact they’d received from Merlin.

“I want to go out there someday, and see what’s in the water.” He tried to climb up the railing to get a better look, but relented to being picked up. “Maybe even beyond it. There’s a whole world out there, right?”

Igni nodded again. A whole world, and countless other ones besides, and all at risk from the machinations of the author of that book.

“Do you want to go on the ocean?” The boy asked. “You can come with me!”

Igni paused, trying to determine how to convey the complexities of her response nonverbally, or if she should just speak and resign herself to the pain.

She didn’t have the opportunity to decide, as right then the door opened again to reveal a guard. “Prince Eric,” The guard said, and Igni put the boy back on the ground so that he could handle the situation. He was better equipped for this, at the moment.

Eric talked excitedly to the guard about the ocean for a solid ten minutes. Perhaps even longer, but it was about then that the two left the room, so Igni had no way to be sure.

~*~*~*~

_ The woman in front of Astrid was, well, Astrid. It was pretty clear that this was a dream, so she wasn’t really that bothered about it. _

_ “This is weird,” The other Astrid said. “I wonder if this is how it always is.” _

_ “I don’t know,” Astrid said. “What’s this?” _

_ “We are aspects, I suppose,” The other Astrid said. “That makes sense. You are our love, maybe.” _

_ “Then what are you, do you think?” Astrid asked. _

_ The other Astrid looked at her hands. “I am the way that Braig hurt you,” She decided. “I am the separation of yourself that came at his hands.” _

_ Astrid pondered that. “I think…” She said. “I think I’d like it better if you could be something else.” _

_ “I don’t see anything else for me to be.” _

_ “Why don’t you start with… my friend?” _

_ “But… I am you.” _

_ “Best friend to have, right?” _

_ Slowly, the other Astrid smiled, and Astrid got the sensation of something new beginning to shape to its use. _

_ Astrid smiled back. _

~*~*~*~

“Ah, you must be the guest.”

Sean turned, facing the speaker. “Yes,” He said. “And you are?”

“Ursula.” She smiled. “I hear you’re looking for some people?”

Sean nodded.

“I might be able to help,” She said. “Come with me, if you’d like me to. We’ll have much to discuss.”

She began to leave, and he followed her. Eventually, they came to a wing of the palace that Sean hadn’t seen before.

“So, your human siblings,” Ursula said. “You’re worried for them, yes?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Sean said. “I-- The last time we got separated from any of them, we never saw them again. Well, Astrid saw Terra once, more recently, but then… other things happened, that were very bad.”

“You poor dear,” Ursula said. “Well, we’ll have to find them then, won’t we?”

“Please,” Sean said.

“I should be able to do that,” Ursula said. “But I’m afraid this sort of magic simply doesn’t _ work _ without a price. Such a pity, really. If it didn’t, I’d do it for free in a heartbeat, but--”

“What do you need?” Sean asked.

She smiled, wide and unplaceably familiar in a way that made his scales suddenly crawl. Then, she waved her hand over a cauldron, and the image of their gift from Merlin.

“I need _ this _,” She said. “Then, I can use some of its power to direct the spell and take you right to your family.”

“Oh,” He said quietly.

A contract appeared in front of him, and a fish skeleton next to it, clearly designed as a pen. “Just sign here and bring me the star shard, and you’ll be together again in no time. Who knows? I might even have the juice from it to reunite you with the ones you’ve truly lost.”

The tone in her voice was so, _ so _ similar to… to…

Sean couldn’t place it. Whoevers tone she shared, the rest of their voices were different enough from each other to throw him off. He started reading the contract.

It was _ about _ what she’d said, although he was suspicious of the amount of large words she was using where they didn’t _ quite _ fit, as though the smaller ones were shameful in some way.

Then, he blinked. “If I can’t pay you, you’ll turn me into a _ what _?”

“Simply a _ formality _, dear,” She assured him. “I know you haven’t been here long, but I’ve grown a little attached to you, really.”

Sean’s eyes widened, and the hand he’d extended towards the fish skeleton pen froze.

“That clause is largely just there for the less trustworthy,” Ursula continued, not noticing his sudden hesitance. “And it’s _ such _ a pain to write out. You understand, don’t you, boy?”

“Yeah,” He said, trying not to shake. “Listen, uh, I’m not sure I’ll be able to _ find _ the, uh, star shard? Can I, say, hold off on making this decision until I know?”

A brief rage flashed across Ursula, stiffening her in a way that made Sean glad he wasn’t locking himself into anything at that moment. Still, it faded quickly, and she was back to the way she’d been before. “Of course, dear boy,” She cooed. “I would _ never _ wish to rush you.”

“... Great,” Sean said. “I’m gonna… _ go _ , now. I think it’s about lunchtime, and I don’t know about you, but I am _ famished _. Trying to make choices, you know, really just…it just kicks my metabolism into overdrive. See you around.”

And then he swam away as fast as he could.

~*~*~*~

_ “What is this place, anyways?” Lauriam asked, turning away from the group and looking around the strange room again. _

_ The floor was patterned in concentric circles, each patterned with strange, vaguely numeric symbols that none of them quite understood, and each missing one chunk, showing dirt beneath. _

_ In the center was an ornate bowl, sized enough for an adult to fit in, the interior coated with dust. _

_ “The map calls it the Chamber of Rebirth,” Skuld said, holding up the book. “Doesn’t say why, though.” _

_ “I don’t like it,” Ephemer said. “Something about it rubs me the wrong way.” _

_ Brain knelt, tracing one of the symbols on the floor with his finger, and hid a wince as input flashed across his mind. _

“--remember--”

A gloved hand reached to calibrate.

“--yes, but--”

A cloaked figure crumbled in the bowl.

_ He drew his hand away. “Don’t touch the bowl,” He said. _

_ “What?” His companions turned to him. _

_ “Please,” He said. “Just trust me on this one.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i have to critique poetry for class so my classmates and i can get good grades and my teacher doesnt think im here to skate by for an easy a, and i have to write an email to another teacher, and  
my brain, for some fucking reason: well the medallion says thats dumb, so we're not gonna do that
> 
> anyways im. SOME part of the way through what will hopefully be a one-shot that absolutely insisted i start it instantly, but then again this whole au was only expected to be ~40 or 50k and obviously that didnt happen
> 
> Brain has a vision of himself having a vision! how fun


	19. So you dragged me out to sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a hold on nothing, I'll slip away  
Face a thousand torrents and roaring rain  
When it's time to face the hands of fate  
Know if I fall under, I'll suffocate

Sean left Triton’s palace in the late afternoon, hoping a trip to the beach could clear his head.

He breached the surface, coughing as his body adjusted to the air, and pulled himself into the shallows, then onto a rock.

The sun was beginning to set. At first, Sean was confused; he’d been told that the shore was barely half an hour away.

But he wasn’t really a strong swimmer, was he? A life of using his arms instead of his tail to move around would do that, he supposed. He and Meredith hadn’t ever gone at top speed, either, when they’d been trying to coax Ienzo into the water.

Ienzo. They’d left him in the garden.

Not like they could take him from the castle, really, but Sean was worried about him, considering whatever Braig and that strange man had been planning. He just hoped the kid would be okay.

A bird landed on his head, and made… some sort of sound. He wasn’t really sure how to identify it.

“Awfully bold, aren’t you?” Sean said. “The only bird back at the garden that would get this close to people was Mr. Scrooge, and he’s a lot bigger than you are.”

The bird made its sound again. Then it flew off.

Sean heard something else-- activity on the beach. A boy was pulling a makeshift raft to the edge of the water, a puppy trailing excitedly behind him.

There was no way for that to turn out well.

“Hey!” Sean called. “Hey, stop!”

The boy began to move faster. The puppy, on the other hand, turned and bounded towards the rock, barking excitedly.

“Yeah, hi,” Sean said, petting it a little as it reached him. Then he turned back to call out again. “Hey, kid!”

The boy pushed the raft into the water and hopped on, beginning to be swept out to sea.

“Stay,” Sean told the puppy, and rolled off the rock, pulling himself through the water to try and reach the boy. He submerged, if only for the speed he would gain from the energy that would otherwise have been keeping him afloat.

A wave crashed over the raft, knocking the boy from it, and Sean swam towards him.

Before he could reach the boy, however, one of Triton’s daughters shot up from the depths and caught him under his arms. Sean watched as she dragged the human to shore, then surfaced and waved to catch her attention.

He managed, after a few minutes, and she left the boy and swam to him.

“What?” She asked.

“Did you follow me?” Sean asked. “Your dad’s probably going to kick me out, if you did.”

“Not if we don’t tell him,” She said.

Sean considered that. “You know,” He said. “I can’t really argue with you on that one. You should go home, though.”

“That palace is  _ boring _ ,” She whined. “I want to see what humans do!”

Sean considered that, too. “I think we would definitely get in trouble for that,” He said finally. “Also, we don’t have any way of going on land without my chair, and you’re six.”

“That’s practically grown up!” She objected.

“No, it’s really not,” Sean said. “I get you’re the oldest  _ you’ve _ ever been, but trust me when I say there’s a reason we aren’t considered adults until we’re eighteen, at the  _ youngest _ .”

She pouted.

“Look,” Sean said. “I need your dad not to be mad at me so I have a place to sleep where I don’t have to worry about being, like, eaten or something. I’ll swim home with you, and I’ll tell him I found you somewhere that is not this close to shore, but I really need you not to follow me again, okay?”

“Okay,” She sighed.

The pair swam back to Triton’s palace.

~*~*~*~

Eric was brought back sopping wet, with a thick layer of sand to boot. The king was in shambles about the whole thing, really.

Astrid and Igni looked at each other, and decided not to point out that a layer of dirt was healthy for boys his age. Astrid tripped their brother when he moved to try.

“Hey,” He complained.

“Kings will worry,” Astrid said. “Nothing to do for that. Our priority is Sean.”

“You don’t think Eric might have seen him?” Blayne asked.

“I don’t think we’ll get the chance to ask for quite some time,” Astrid said. “I think tomorrow I will be taking a trip to the beach myself. You two could join me.”

“Sounds fun,” Igni said. “Lots to talk about, on beaches.”

Astrid nodded.

“Yeah, alright,” Blayne said. “Let’s go to the beach tomorrow. Why not?”

~*~*~*~

_ “You’re shitting me,” Lauriam said. “You have to be, this-- This isn’t funny, you know!” _

_ “It’s not,” Brain agreed. “Lauriam, I would never joke about something like--” _

_ “This can’t be real,” Lauriam insisted, looking around at the group. “You can’t expect me to believe this!” _

_ “They showed us the list, Lauriam,” Ventus said. “You can see it, too, if you want. I’m s--” _

_ “Shut up!” Lauriam closed his eyes and covered his ears. He was starting to cry. “Shut up! I-- I can’t-- I won’t believe this!” _

_ “Lauriam--” Skuld said. _

_ “Just leave me alone!” He began to stagger backwards. _

_ “Lauriam, please--” Ephemer said, but the other boy turned and ran. _

_ The remaining four successors stood there silently for a long, long time. _

_ “Will he be back?” Ven asked. _

_ “He’ll come back when he calms down,” Ephemer said, although he sounded a little unsure. _

_ “I don’t think he will calm down,” Brain said. “He--” _

A boy and a girl approached the stairs, approached the dais, and knelt, bowing.

_ “He lost his sister, Ephemer,” Brain finished lamely. “He lost his sister, and now he’s heard this, and he probably thinks she’d still be with him if he’d done something different, or been someone better. That shit hurts. I don’t know if that’s something people can recover from.” _

_ “It has to be,” Skuld said. “We need him. We need all of us.” _

~*~*~*~

Brain sat up in bed, and rubbed his eyes.

His face was wet, he tasted salt, and he felt like he was drowning, but he was nowhere near the water.

He knew what happened next. The boy who wasn’t Lauriam came to tell them they would fail, which they’d half-known but refused to admit. Ephemer would retrace his steps for an answer. Brain, Ventus, and Skuld would…

Would…

They’d do  _ something _ , certainly. He hadn’t seen what, yet, but he was sure he would.

He had to.

He had to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can write little a fanfiction. as a treat


	20. But if you get there first

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home at last, but you're fading fast  
A friendly face. An icy glass  
The last song sung, that freedom is in tone

“Wake  _ up _ .”

Igni pulled her brother from his bed as she spoke, and he twitched as he thudded to the floor.

“What do you have against sleeping, that you must banish it at every opportunity?” He muttered.

“He’s talking like an ancient person,” Astrid remarked. “Looks like you were right to wake him up.”

“We’re going to the beach today,” Igni said, seemingly unperturbed by either of her siblings’ comments. “We decided. Get up.”

Brain allowed himself to be dragged out of bed and bullied into daywear. He was still blinking exhaustion and regret from his eyes when they made it down to the beach.

“We need to find Merlin’s gift,” Astrid said. “We need that, and we need Sean, and we need to get out of here. Something about being here, it--”

“No, I get you,” Igni said. “I don’t think there’s much we can do to stop those prophecies from here.”

“Where do we start  _ looking _ ?” Brain yawned.

“Well, we haven’t heard anything about Sean,” Astrid said. “So, rationally, he should be in the water.”

Igni and Brain considered that.

“Adds up,” Brain said. “But we can’t really check the ocean, can we? I mean, it’s not like we can breathe down there.”

“We can’t,” Astrid said. “I’m going to need you two to keep an eye on me. I have to focus.”

“I’ll do my best,” Brain muttered.

“I’ve got it,” Igni said. “Plus, I’ve got a topic for after.”

Astrid closed her eyes.

~*~*~*~

_ “We’re at the [ _ _ ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫ _ _ ]. Are you there?” _

Sean perked up, but then stiffened. There was an odd, dissonant quality to Astrid’s projection that hadn’t been there before, like she was talking over another version of herself.

And that missing word…

He closed his eyes, trying to open his mind a little bit more.

_ “Sean, are you there? We’re at the b̵̶̶̶̷̵̸̵̵̸̶̷̶̷̶̴̴̷̸̵̶̷̵̶̵̷̷̴̷̴̢̡̰̘̘͚̗̦̮̟̫͔͎̻̪̺̗̟͉̘͈̭̠͖̝̺̻̹̪̣̟͓̩̟̱̮̣̘̲̾̑̃̇͐͋̊͗̈̈́͒̂̏̓̽̆̐̂̌̀̏̎̑͌̃̈́̽͆̋̒̋̆̑͊̄̚͜͜͜͠͠͝͝ͅȩ̸̶̷̴̴̵̴̵̸̸̸̷̸̴̶̸̵̵̷̸̸̢̨̧̢̡̨̟̬͔̥͎̻̤͙͍͚̹͙̼͔̯̺͓̭̻̬̞͔͚̤̞̫̇̔̒̽͒̇̽͋͆̈́͂̊̽̑͛͂̿̊͐̍̚͜͝͝ͅą̸̶̸̸̴̶̴̴̸̴̵̶̶̴̶̴̷̸̵̵̸̸̢̘̼̦̙̘͎̰̞̤̻̪̻̼̠̞̜̜̪̺̺̞͕̝̤̇̂́̍͂̒̂́̈͊͑͗͗̐̋̆͑͒̉̓͆̔̀̔̿͘̕͘͜͜͝ͅͅͅc̷̵̶̴̵̷̷̴̵̷̸̴̸̵̸̵̸̸̷̸̴̴̸̵̷̴̶̢̛̛̛̫̱̥͉̞̳̹̹͕̝̪͉̗̗̜̺͓͎̤̖̳̲͙̮͔̹͓̞̬̣̬̈́̒͂̀̂̿̉̎̌̍̐̌́̈́͛̈́͐͑͗̆̇͌̈̀͊̒̽̄̓͛̕͘͜͠͝͠ͅͅh̸̷̶̷̷̵̸̸̸̶̸̶̢̡̢̡̡̨̛̹̪̗̞̟̹̦͇͍̅͛̿̓͊̽͑͐͊̽͛͘̕ͅ _ _ .” _

He winced.

_ “The  _ _ [ _ _ ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫ _ _ ]. I’m going to keep saying this until you’re here.” _

A few more deep breaths. He was ready now. He’d hear her. He had to.

_ “The ḃ̶̻̺̟̘̭͖̺̹̣͓̟̮̘͋͗̈́͒̏̽̐̌̀̎͜͠͠e̶̢̨̢͎̤͚͙͔̺̭̬̤̫̽͜͝͝ͅâ̶̪̼̞̜̺̞̝̍̒́͊͗̐̆͒͜͜ͅc̵̛̛͓̤̳͙̹͓̞̣̀̿̍̌́͛͐͗̇͘͠͠ͅh̷̡̢̡̹͍̿̓͊, Sean. The b̴͉̏ȩ̶́a̵̡͆c̷͔̐h̶̳͊.” _

Almost…

The words snapped onto a different track, and suddenly her voice was made out of his own, still dissonant.  _ “We’re on the beach. Where are you?” _

Sean did not attempt to answer; he had no idea how. Instead, he swam as fast as he could, out of the castle and towards the shore and up and up and up…

~*~*~*~

_ He stood with Ven and Skuld in the Chamber of Rebirth. _

_ “So,” Skuld said. “What’s the plan?” _

_ “Be there, largely,” Ven said. “Only thing we can do, really, right?” _

_ “Okay,” Skuld said. “But the book with the map has a page that explains the symbols on the floor. Do we want to mess with them at all? Maybe arrive a bit earlier, so we’re not children when this stuff happens?” _

_ “Would the Master of Masters make himself a child for the next war?” Brain asked. _

_ “Well,” Skuld said. “According to the positioning of all the stones in the floor right now and the stuff we’ve got in all the various books we’ve got lying around? Yeah.” _

_ “That’d-- That’d put him right in the middle of it, wouldn’t it?” Ven asked. _

_ Skuld shrugged. “Maybe that’s what he wants. I don’t know much about this guy, but he wrote that fucking prophecy book for a reason, right?” _

_ “Well, doesn’t that make me confident in Mother’s upbringing?” Brain sighed. _

_ Ven and Skuld turned to him in confusion. _

_ Brain blinked. “I said that out loud, huh.” _

_ “Yes,” Skuld said. “I’m gonna set the destination. Since we’re all about to die and forget all this anyways, you might as well tell us what you meant by that.” _

_ “The perfect time to learn about our most private friend!” Ven declared. He sounded sincere, but then again, he always did. _

_ Brain sighed. “My mother,” He said. “Ava.” _

_ “Oh, shit, the foretellers had kids?” Skuld asked. _

_ “Mother did,” Brain said. “Aced had a cousin, and I think Gula had a niece, uh…” _

_ “Luxu had me,” Ven said. “He was a pretty shitty dad, though. Always off with Grand-MoM, planning shit they wouldn’t tell me about that turned out to be the end of the world.” _

_ “Speaking of,” Brain said. “Maybe someone should stay behind? Try and keep the world together?” _

_ “Oh, we’re well past that,” Skuld said. “I was checking that before I caught up with you. At least one portion was under siege by mega-dudes with laser mouths, and that one broke off while I was watching.” _

_ Brain and Ven looked at each other. _

_ “Okay, I’ll bite,” Brain said. “Where the fuck did the mega-dudes with laser mouths come from?” _

_ “How the shit am I supposed to know that?” Skuld asked. “Look, the point is, all over the world, apocalypses are happening. Daybreak Town has been spared so far, but it’s only a matter of time. I don't want anyone to get left behind. I don’t want anyone to die like that here, whatever ends up happening.” _

_ “We can’t take everyone in town here, they’d freak out even if they believed us,” Ven said. “And… most of the people we know are already gone, aren’t they?” _

_ “Pura’s brother said they’re helping some guy with establishing some sort of agency in another reality,” Skuld agreed. _

_ Brain froze. “A what.” _

_ “Yeah, apparently that’s a thing,” Skuld said. “Apparently they haven’t decided which of them is going to cheat death yet.” _

_ “Is the floor in the right place?” Ven asked. _

_ Skuld nodded. “Itching to die?” _

_ “No, but if I put it off much longer I’m going to chicken out,” Ven said. “What do I do?” _

_ “Climb in the bowl,” Brain and Skuld said in unison. _

_ Ven pulled himself over the rim and stood in the center. _

_ “I don’t feel anyth--” _

_ The soft thump of a large quantity of dust falling to the ground hit the room. _

~*~*~*~

“Dude, wake  _ up _ !”

Brain opened his eyes, looking into the worried faces of his family.

“That… was a fucked up one,” He muttered.

“Yeah, you were whining the whole time,” Igni said. “I nearly called Astrid back to get you up, but…”

“Well, what’s important is that you’re fine now,” Sean said.

“Yeah, I’m not sure I’m ready to sit up yet,” Brain said. “Get down here and hug me.”

Sean lay across his brother’s chest, crushing him.

“Shit, I’m dead!” Brain choked out between laughs.

“Igni, you said you had something else you wanted to talk about,” Astrid said.

“Oh, yeah,” Igni said. She pulled Merlin’s gift out of her pocket. “Found this. We can head out now if we want.”

There was a pause.

“I need a new chair,” Sean said. “I think my old one is lost beyond finding.”

“Well, then,” Igni said, gathering everyone together. “Let’s do that first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gang's all together again, and they've got a new story quest. Preventing the next keyblade war is easier done when everyone is self-mobile


	21. Legend has it that the moss grows on the north side of the trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But have you heard the story of the rabbit in the moon  
Or the cow that hopped the planets, while straddling a spoon  
Or she, who leapt up mountains, while whistling up a tune  
And swapped her songs with swallows, while riding on a broom

Astrid and Igni carried Sean between them as the four of them moved through the large, bright city.

“We focused really hard on the chair thing, I thought,” Igni said. “We should be able to get one here, right? I mean…”

“Maybe that wasn’t something this place ever looked into,” Sean muttered, somewhat annoyed.

They passed a storefront advertising the very latest in robot assistance.

“I refuse to believe an entire society sucks that fucking much,” Astrid said.

“I think we know better than that,” Brain said.

“Cynicism is not being smarter, Blaynothy,” She shot back. “It’s just more cynical.”

Brain wanted to fire back with a witty retort, but he couldn’t think of an appropriately dumb long form for her name, so he had to concede defeat.

“Hold up,” Sean pointed across the street to a cinema. “What is that.”

“I think they do shows there,” Igni said.

“No, not the building-- That poster.”

“Oh, shit, that’s a mermaid,” Astrid deadpanned.

“I think I met her, but, like, young,” Sean said. “And not a drawing.”

“Neat,” Brain said. “I guess that probably means something, but I don’t think that thing is necessarily relevant to anything we’re doing just yet.”

“Hm,” Sean said. “Perish, then.”

“I did, but thanks,” Brain said.

“Truly an intellectual dialogue we have,” Igni said.

“If you were not holding me up this would already be a wrestle match,” Sean said.

“All of you, please,” Astrid said. “We’re all intellectuals, let’s find somewhere to eat and ask directions.”

~*~*~*~

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in a Waffle House.

While Igni attempted to wrangle some directions out of the person behind the counter, Sean and Astrid threw bits of waffle at Brain.

“This is really not--” Brain tried, but he had to stop when Astrid managed to toss a piece of waffle directly into his mouth.

“Score,” She said, and high-fived Sean.

Brain sunk down in the seat, chewing petulantly.

Igni slid in next to him. “Cashier doesn’t know,” She said. “City’s too big, no one’s gonna know anything that isn’t relevant to them somehow.”

“That makes things difficult,” Astrid said. “Should we move on again?”

“I don’t like using this thing so much,” Igni said. “We’re always dizzy, and we might lose it again. Or each other. And then we’ll--”

Brain put a hand on her arm.

“It’s not going to be like Terra and Aqua again,” He said. “I promise. I can promise you that much, at least.”

“Let’s keep looking,” Sean said.

~*~*~*~

They kept wandering, until the sky began to darken and shops around them began to close.

“This isn’t a good sign,” Igni said. “We spent most of our money on food, and you  _ know _ this is a society that charges for shelter.”

“I’d give it that we have 10 minutes to earn money, probably,” Sean said. “While we’re tired, everyone around us is tired, and there’s no room to do anything.”

“Hm,” Brain said brightly. “Fuck.”

“Okay,” Astrid said. “Idea time. Anything goes.”

“We should steal,” Sean said.

Igni raised a hand. “I’m cute! I could ask people nicely!”

“Now would be a great time for me to manifest the ability to see the  _ future _ ,” Brain decided.

“ _ Concrete _ ideas, my guy,” Astrid said.

“Oh,” He said. “In that case, I’m with Sean. We should steal.”

Astrid considered that.

“ _ Stealing _ gets us in trouble,” Igni said. “We shouldn’t do that. Might lose the star shard that way.”

“Mm,” Everyone said. She had a point.

“Fish coins out of a fountain?” Brain asked.

“Works for me,” Sean said.

“Yeah, that--” Igni began. Then she stopped, shooting Sean a venomous look.

“What?” Sean asked. Then he thought about it. “Oh, yeah, that  _ did _ sound like a pun from me, huh.”

It took them a bit, but they found a fountain. They set Sean in it, and Igni took off her shoes and rolled up her pant legs to help. Astrid stayed with Brain at the edge to count the coins.

Half an hour later, when the sky was dark but they could only really tell if they paid attention, they had emptied the fountain.

“Okay,” Astrid said. “I’ve sorted, counted, and determined the value of each coin. We have ten dollars and seventy-five thousand, four hundred eighty three cents.”

“Is there a conversion there?” Sean asked.

“I have no fucking idea,” Astrid said.

Brain reached over and picked up one of the copper coins, his eyes glazing over. After a few moments, he dropped it. “Shit ton of those bad boys make a paper slip,” He said.

“Useful,” Igni said. “Easier than carrying them all around, right?”

“We’d have to find where they  _ do _ that,” Sean pointed out. “What are you going to do, leave them with me and Blayne while you look?”

Igni groaned, leaning into Astrid’s shoulder.

“I’m beginning to realize we didn’t think this through,” Astrid said. “Still, they run on capitalism here, so we’ll have to find  _ something _ .”

“Or move on,” Brain said.

“Or steal,” Sean said.

“Let’s bag all these and try and figure out what to do next,” Igni said. “I, for one, am starting to get cold, especially on my legs, that are covered in water, which I am not designed to insulate against.”

“Put your shoes on,” Brain said. “I want to get inside,  _ somehow _ , and I saw a lot of signs making it very clear that shoes were a requirement on the way here.”

“Are you sure those weren’t from the past?” Sean asked.

“About as sure as I can be,” Brain said.

Astrid dumped all the coins in with her clothes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waffle House is a universal constant


	22. Faces newly strange I'd find

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And I have learned a trick or two  
Though I’ve forgotten quite a few  
And might have told a hundred lies  
Twice as many half as true

“I hate this,” Igni said.

They’d ended up on a bench that felt like it was half the city away from the fountain they’d collected money from, but was probably a lot less than that, considering the size of the city.

“Maybe we should get some rest,” Astrid said. “Sleep in shifts, since we’re outside.”

“Where’s Blayne?” Sean asked.

“I’m gonna say a fucking swear word,” Astrid said.

“How are we supposed to find him in  _ this _ mess?” Igni asked, gesturing to encompass the setting at large.

“Igni, you can see hearts,” Sean said.

“Oh, yeah,” Igni said. “Let me just, uhhhhh, look through this  _ entire city _ for  _ one guy _ with qualities that we  _ don’t know _ the statistics for, with my ability that I’ve  _ never _ been properly trained to use. That’s gonna work  _ really _ well, Sean, thank you  _ so much _ for the suggestion.”

“Lashing out won’t help anyone,” Astrid said. “ _ I’ll _ try to reach him.”

Igni huffed, closing her eyes and leaning back on the bench.

Astrid closed her eyes, too.

_ “Please come to the bench at Park Avenue. We are concerned.” _

No answer, but she knew not to expect one.

She decided to wait a bit before calling again.

A wave of shouting came up the street. She opened her eyes, turning, and saw Brain running towards them, being pursued by a lot of people in blue.

“Igni, the shard,” She said.

Igni had the star shard out before she’d fully processed what was going on, pulling Sean closer to her. Astrid took Sean’s other half and motioned with her head. She and her sister booked it towards their other brother, slamming into him and falling out of the world before they were fully aware of wishing.

On the street they’d left, police officers and civilians stopped, staring at the spot where they’d disappeared.

One of the officers threw his hat on the ground. “Dammit! Not again!”

~*~*~*~

Sean awoke in one big bed with his family to the loud, synchronized ticking of clocks.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

He turned to the voice. A well dressed person sat at a desk, fiddling with a clock absently.

“I must have been here longer than I thought,” The person continued. “Does Vulpes seek to claim the sea?”

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sean said. “Who are you?”

“I am the Clockmaker.” The person nodded to the bed. “That’s Brain, right? The Mystery Man of Vulpes?”

“H-- How do you know my brother?”

The Clockmaker blinked. “Brother? It’s news to  _ me _ he’s got family.”

Sean paused. “Wait,” He said, blood draining from his face. “How long  _ have _ you-- I mean, what were things like before you came here?”

The Clockermaker set down their clock, picking up a piece of paper and crossing the floor to hand it to Sean.

He studied it. It was very old, and held a sketch of the mechanism for a great clocktower.

“I’ve always adored clocks,” The Clockmaker said. “I was always sneaking in to map the construction of that old thing.”

Sean looked up at the Clockmaker. He couldn’t see their teeth, he realized. Was that intentional, in the way they presented themself? Were they like the almost-humans, then, or just strange?

“It hasn’t been  _ so _ long, has it?” They asked. “I mean, Brain is--”

“My brother’s reincarnated,” Sean blurted out.

The Clockmaker blinked. “So it  _ has _ been a while,” They decided. “I suppose this makes me immortal, then. That was supposed to be Ludor’s job.”

One of the clocks on the wall began to rattle.

“Oh, dear, she can’t be on her way out  _ already _ .” The Clockmaker’s attention dropped from Sean entirely, and they were suddenly taking a screwdriver to the back of the defective clock. “I just reset this morning!”

“What are you talking about  _ now _ ?” Sean asked.

“She’s supposed to take-- I don’t remember how long it is.” The Clockmaker shook her head. “There’s supposed to be darkness, too. It only befits her, really. Here, I don’t want to have to explain this again.”

The Clockmaker sat on the bed, shoulder briefly knocking into Sean’s as they flipped a switch on the clock.

The light outside shifted, very suddenly.

“What… just happened?”

“Alice  _ stays _ ,” The Clockmaker said. “Time marches circular, like the face of a clock. Roles do not empty and do not need to be filled by people who are not around to fill them. The world keeps ticking.”

“You know?” Sean said. “I think you need therapy.”

“Oh, probably,” The Clockmaker said. “But, you know, there’s no healing in Wonderland.”

“I… was unaware of that, as it would happen,” Sean said. “But, sure. That’s just-- That’s just a thing now. Got it.”

“Glad we’re on the same page,” The Clockmaker said.

“Yeah, uh…” Sean shifted uncomfortably, flukes slapping against the floor. “Why are the roles in Wonderland so important?”

“Alice,” The Clockmaker said.

“Alice?”

“Alice.”

It was plain that they were out of exposition for the time.

~*~*~*~

The light moved as the day progressed, eventually reaching a position just past where it had been when Sean had woken up.

The others stirred.

After a bit of acclimation time, during which Sean explained everything the Clockmaker had told him, the gang looked over their supplies.

“I’m…  _ pretty _ sure that the currency we picked up wasn’t munny,” Brain said. “Like,  _ solid _ 95% sure.”

“Is now,” The Clockmaker said blandly from their workbench.

“Okay, but  _ why _ ?” Igni asked.

The Clockmaker shrugged. “For all I know, it all goes that way eventually.”

“Helpful,” Astrid said.

“I do so tend to be, yes,” The Clockmaker said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Through the power of having eplans today, I actually woke up before noon. I still stayed in bed for like an hour though. I haven't seen anyone besides my family in person for over two weeks now! It doesn't really feel like it though because I think I've actually been socializing more than normal.


	23. Blowing the flowers astray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darling, oh darling  
Don't leave me be!  
Trapped in the garden  
From which I can't see

The sun inched lower in the sky, the guests went to bed, and a Cat landed in the window.

“Long day,” He purred.

“Yes,” The Clockmaker sighed.

“Of one law, we know,” The Cat said. “One you grind to oil.”

“In kingdom without heir or spare, time cannot be afforded,” The Clockmaker countered.

“And none will ever be, tailchaser.”

“Explain to me my guests, Cat, if not potentials.” The Clockmaker picked up a block of wood and a carving knife, beginning to whittle a shape.

“Where would  _ you _ place them, Pura?”

“I told you not to call me that. Not until the work is done.”

“But  _ where _ ?”

“The oracle would make a fine Hatter,” The Clockmaker said. “I always thought so. The others… the mer could be a mock-turtle. One of the girls is almost in two, she could be the tweedles--”

“Or she could heal.”

“There is no healing in Wonderland.”

“Not as long as you reset the clock.”

“Don’t put this on--”

“Poor Heart has been queen too long, too alone--”

“Don’t  _ pity _ her, she nearly kills the light!”

The argument cut off as Igni shifted on the bed, groaning.

When she did not awaken, Clockmaker and Cat turned back to each other.

“If they stay, I will let the world move on,” The Clockmaker said. “I think they will.”

“How touching,” The Cat said. “But not Touching enough, not in their hearts. ‘Tis my role to Know, Clockmaker. Wonderland does not deal in heirs. A role must empty before it fills. This static fills your mind as much as ours.”

“None of you say what you mean.”

“Something you have gained, as well.”

“ _ Fuck _ you, dude.”

~*~*~*~

Astrid awoke in the still, early morning air.

Everyone else was asleep, still, breathing softly, except for the conspicuously absent Clockmaker.

On the worktable was a clock. She approached it. It had two faces, and one wood was inlaid on another so intricately it was impossible to tell which was the original. She reached for it, but something about the idea of touching it felt so final that she hesitated and pulled away.

She returned to the bed, and started shaking Sean’s shoulder.

He did not stir.

Her eyebrows drew down, a bubble of concern welling up inside of her.

She shook his shoulder again.

When that failed, she shook Igni and Brain.

Still nothing.

“Curious,” She muttered.

A bell chimed from the direction of the worktable.

~*~*~*~

Sean awoke in the still, mid-morning air.

Everyone else was asleep, still, breathing softly, except for the conspicuously absent Clockmaker.

On the worktable was a clock. From his vantage point on the bed, he could see it was wooden, with a blue staining and a sapphire face. It was fascinating, but he still had no chair with which to approach it. They’d have to head out soon, and find one.

He shook Igni’s shoulder.

She did not stir.

“Hey, Igni,” He said.

He shook her shoulder again.

When that failed, he shook Brain and Astrid.

Still nothing.

“Concerning,” He said.

There was a sound something like a rainstick from the worktable.

~*~*~*~

Igni awoke around noon to a still, quiet room.

Everyone else was asleep, still, breathing softly, except for the conspicuously absent Clockmaker.

On the worktable was a clock. She approached it, curiously. It was a wild shape; not even its face was the traditional circle. The hands and numerals were made in ruby. She reached for it, but stopped. Then she  **checked. The clock had a heart, too much like her own for her liking.** She did not touch it.

She returned to the bed, and shook Brain’s shoulder.

He did not stir.

That wasn’t too much out of the ordinary, but she still didn’t like it.

She shook his shoulder again.

When that failed, she shook Astrid and Sean.

Still nothing.

“Not particularly fond of this,” She decided.

A thumb piano began to play on the worktable.

~*~*~*~

Brain awoke in the still, early afternoon air.

Everyone else was asleep, still, breathing softly, except for the conspicuously absent Clockmaker.

On the worktable was a clock. He approached it, taking in its grooves and ridges and the small detail work around the sides.

He reached for it, but he did not reach it.

~*~*~*~

_ The Clockmaker sat, finishing up on winding the last of the four clocks. _

_ “Runs fast, does he?” They muttered. “That’s an oracle, for you.” _

_ They closed the clock, and looked out the window at the predawn light. Then they picked up two of the other clocks, leaving one on the table, and walked out the door. _

~*~*~*~

“Alright, get up.”

Brain groaned. He’d hit his face on the way down.

The rest of his family awoke, too, all confused and concerned and generally displeased.

“What the hell was  _ that _ ?” Igni asked.

“That was to see whether any of you would stay in Wonderland,” The Clockmaker said. “None of you accepted to, so you’ll have to be out before tomorrow’s sunrise. I  _ do _ apologize for not being clear, but that’s not the way of this place.”

“Just don’t do it again,” Sean said.

“Oh, no worries,” The Clockmaker said. “I  _ did _ spend most of the day making you a chair for your travels, so you can at least have that.”

They casually pushed the chair over to the bed.

“Cool,” Sean said. “What’s it made out of?”

“Material, largely,” The Clockmaker said. “Now, all of you? Get out.”


	24. No one knew me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Children waiting for the day they feel good  
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday  
And I feel the way that every child should  
Sit and listen, sit and listen

They arrived in their next world confused and tired and still kind of upset. It was dark there, and the streets were empty even though the buildings lining them were flush with light.

“I don’t like this,” Brain said. “Where  _ is _ everybody?”

Wordlessly, Igni started walking through the town. Her siblings followed, presuming she would lead them to a person.

She did not.

She crouched down at the entrance to one of the squares in town, extending a hand and clicking her tongue. Something moved at the other end.

Sean looked at her with concern. “Igni--”

“Shh!”

Silence.

“Igni,” Sean said, quieter. “What are you doing?”

“Have you ever seen something that’s familiar, but in an unfamiliar way?” She asked.

Sean thought of Atlantica. “Yeah,” He said. “I guess so. Why?”

“This is like that,” She said. “A little flicker of a heart I feel like I know. One spark of a fire. One bead of a work. One drop of an ocean. You know.”

“Why are we chasing this?” Brain asked. “Why aren’t we going to someone and asking what’s going on?”

“I think you know,” Astrid said. “It’s increasingly obvious that we’re the only people here.”

Their conversation cut off as they saw the flicker of movement again. An inky blue creature, lean and pointed, popped out of the ground and eyed them warily.

“Who left you here?” Igni asked soothingly. “Do you know me?”

The creature melted again, sliding along the ground until it was under a streetlamp before popping up, standing in its own shadow and looking at them with the same distrust.

Igni reached out her hand a little farther, and the creature arched its back, eyes widening to an absurd degree. From its shadow, another creature of the same kind emerged, but the original collapsed and dissolved from the effort.

“I actually hate that,” Sean said. “Whatever just happened?  _ Seriously _ not a fan.”

“Quiet, you,” Igni said.

The new creature kept watching them.

“Someone has your eyes and ears,” Igni hummed to it. “Is that what weakens you, or is that what gives you what strength you  _ do _ have?”

Its eyes seemed to narrow, as it looked at her, but whether in suspicion or some other concentration she couldn’t say.

“You’re tired, huh?” She said. “Oh, what was that old song?”

“Jack and Jill went up the hill / For they had a pail to fill,” Astrid suggested.

“When they died, so did it spill,” Igni continued, picking up the melody. “When they fell from on the hill.”

“I feel like those aren’t the words,” Brain said.

“You’re right, I think there’s another verse before that,” Sean said.

“That’s not what I meant,” Brain said. “I thought--”

He stumbled, and Astrid caught him.

He started muttering. “Jack and Jill went up the hill / To fetch a pail of water / Jack fell down and broke his crown / And Jill--”

“Shit, dude, you’re going into trances to correct us on nursery rhymes now?” Sean asked. “I feel like that’s not healthy.”

Brain’s eyes focused, and he stood himself up. “Sorry,” He said. “What’d I miss?”

“There is a nonzero chance that some time in your life you will go directly from one vision into another and it will all be downhill from there,” Astrid said.

“You are  _ way _ too calm about that,” Igni said.

“I think my expressions got put in a different bit,” Astrid said, thumping her chest with a deadpan voice.

The inky creature came closer still, and Igni froze as she watched it sniff her hand. Then it sat down, regarding them all imperiously.

“You’re heavy, huh,” Igni said. “In your heart. Are you a piece of some too heavy heart?”

It simply looked at her.

Brain stepped up next to her and extended his own hand. The creature leaned back, a bit, but after a few minutes it deigned to sniff his hand, too.

Brain’s eyes widened at the brief flashes of history that grazed his mind. Fractured battles. A hand on a shoulder. More fighting, more pain. That hand on that shoulder again. Anger.  _ That hand on that shoulder. _

“What did he do to you?” Brain sighed.

A new creature emerged from the old one’s shadow, and once again the one that had already been disintegrated with wide, red eyes.

Brain looked at the others. They seemed to have accepted it as part of some strange life cycle, and maybe it  _ was _ , but…

“I think we should get some rest,” Sean said. “Whatever that sleep today was, rest wasn’t it.”

Igni nodded. “Bye,” She said to the inky creature.

It arched its back, glaring at them as they left.

~*~*~*~

_ “Again.” _

~*~*~*~

_ “You’ll never get it with that form.” _

~*~*~*~

_ “Get up.” _

~*~*~*~

_ “Don’t be so sensitive.” _

~*~*~*~

_ “I could almost swear you’re failing me on purpose, Vanitas.” _

~*~*~*~

Brain sat up with a start, breathing hard. Next to him, watching him disdainfully, was an inky, blue creature.

“I  _ did _ ask, didn’t I?” He sighed.

It didn’t move.

“Show me something nice?” He asked, stroking its head.

~*~*~*~

_ She ran up to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. She was concerned? _

_ “Ven?” She asked. “Are you okay?” _

_ The point of view lifted, looking into her face. Aqua jolted back, shock and fear and anger spreading across her face. “You-- You’re not--” _

~*~*~*~

The creature bit him, and he yelped.

It began to shake, and its shadow began to quaver, and Brain thought it was going to make another shape like it had before but it disintegrated without any more fanfare.

The room was still, silent except for the quiet breathing of Brain’s siblings, and he had more questions than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Managing to get Vanitas angst into my fic that does not even technically have Vanitas? It's more likely than you think.
> 
> Also at some point I want to expand on that alternate version of Jack and Jill because I did write more verses but that'll probably be in a later side story


	25. And now you're lost again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A magic spell to turn your life around  
A broken dress from body to the ground  
Now cry your heart out with those deep, deep tears  
'Cause everything's only a lie here

Igni was disappointed that the creature was gone, when everyone got up later. Brain apologized, but she told him it wasn’t necessary.

“Well, since there’s nothing here, should we move on?” Sean asked. “Not much to do in an empty town of eternal night, right?”

“Just because there’s nothing  _ alive _ here doesn’t mean there’s nothing here,” Igni said. “I think we should check.”

~*~*~*~

They’d checked most of the town when Igni suddenly stiffened.

Brain turned to her. “Who’s here?”

“I hope I’m wrong,” Igni said. “I really hope I’m wrong.”

“Igni, that’s not helpful!” Sean said as she started to run, forcing the other three into pursuit.

She rounded a corner and skidded to a stop, causing everyone else to crash into her and fall over due to the lack of warning.

Someone yelped.

Astrid flipped herself back onto her feet. “Squall,” She said.

The boy nodded. “Is this where you’ve been?” He asked.

“We just got here yesterday,” Igni said. “I think… I think some other people from the Garden are here, too.”

“Do you know who?” Brain asked.

She shook her head. “No one from the castle, but I can’t get anything more specific than that.”

“Let’s get everyone together,” Astrid said. “We’ve still got a goal in mind, theoretically. It’ll be better if everyone here is together.”

~*~*~*~

Over all, the new arrivals were Squall, Aerith, Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie, and Cid.

“You four sure you can’t stick around?” Cid asked. “I’m, uh… Well, I’m not exactly prepared to be responsible for a bunch of kids. I could use the help.”

“We didn’t exactly have a good example of parenthood,” Astrid said.

“Hm,” Cid said. “And from the outside, it looked like he was doing so well. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Sean shrugged. “Even if he wasn’t good at it, he was still the best we’d had. We thought he was doing well, too, until we figured it out.”

“And immediately left,” Brain added.

The other three nodded.

“We can try and visit, but…” Igni waved her hands vaguely. “We’ve also got other things we’re trying to figure out.”

Cid sighed. “It hurts, don’t it? Are we really the only people that got out?”

“Dunno,” Sean said. “I hope not, I-- I’m worried. Ienzo’s been through so much already, and--”

There was a long silence.

“I’m not sure anyone who lived or worked in the castle was there by the time this all happened, anyway,” Cid said.

“What?” Igni asked.

“No one’d seen’m for… a while.” Cid rubbed the back of his head. “They all went in one day and didn’t come back out.”

“Disgusting,” Astrid said.

“Five to ten it for me,” Brain said. “How likely is it that it’s their fault things went to shit?”

“Hey, language!” Cid hissed. “There are children present!”

“I’ve been swearing for a thousand years and I refuse to be stopped now,” Brain said.

Cid stopped, blinking in confusion.

“Excuse him,” Sean said. “He’s magic.”

“This does not explain anything.”

“He has  _ not _ been swearing for a thousand years,” Igni said pointedly. “He took a break in the middle to be dead and then a baby again.”

“Can I get an explanation?” Cid asked.

“Actually, I think we should get going,” Astrid said. “Good luck with the children.”

“Astrid--”

Astrid was already herding her siblings together and pulling out the star shard. “Goodbye.”

~*~*~*~

They landed next to a rivulet in a forest, around midday.

“It’s no ocean,” Sean said, sliding to the ground and rolling into the water, completely diverting it into two streams around his body. “But it’ll do.”

“Quit messing with the local ecology,” Astrid said. “We still haven’t figured out how we’re going to change the timeline.”

“I can think of somewhere to start,” Brain said, pointing behind her.

The group turned, and all their eyes settled on a small, glowing wisp in the air.

“What are you pointing at?” Igni asked.

“The glowy thing,” Brain said.

“You can see it?” She blinked at him.

Sean climbed back into his chair. “Let’s get closer,” He said.

Everyone shrugged and approached the wisp.

A trail of them lit up, leading further into the forest, as they reached it.

“That seems remarkably less trustworthy than this whole situation did a second ago,” Astrid decided.

“Okay, but hear me out,” Brain said. “What else are we gonna do right now?”

“Got me there,” She said. “Let’s go.”

They followed the lights.

~*~*~*~

Five minutes later, they were assembled inside a small, dark hut, watching an old lady brew something.

“So,” She said. “I heard someone wanted to change fate, is that right?”

“Yeah,” Igni said. “Our old guardian, Braig, had this book? It was full of apocalypse predictions big enough to theoretically destroy the whole universe, and we want to make absolutely sure none of that happens.”

“It mentioned a man named Luxu,” Brain continued, eyes half glazed over. “Luxu was involved in the first apocalypse, that broke the worlds apart and left them so mechanically changed from each other that they’re basically unrecognizable.”

“Mm.” The old woman nodded. “Could I interest you in turning one of those fellows into a bear?”

The four looked at each other.

“Do we know what a bear is?” Sean asked.

“Nothing comes to mind,” Astrid said.

“I’m gonna say that maybe we should  _ not _ do that, for the time being,” Igni said. “Do you have any other ideas, ma’am?”

“No,” The woman said. “All I do is turn people into bears.”

“Well, it was a nice thought,” Brain said.


	26. Pretend you know this song, everybody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Man, I'm up to something  
Ooh-de-la-di-do, thank you all for coming  
I hope you like the show 'cause it's on a budget  
So ooh-de-la-di-do, yeah, come on, here we go, yeah

They stayed and helped the old woman out for several weeks, during which no less than five people showed up to have their problems solved and left with various elixirs, powders, and tarts that would no doubt turn someone into a bear. Honestly, Sean was surprised there were any humans left in the world.

“Oh, most of them turn back soon enough,” The woman explained. “Apparently turning themselves or their loved ones into bears for a couple of days teaches people life lessons somehow.”

Sean considered that. “That’s not your intention, huh.”

“I have  _ no idea _ why it happens,” The woman agreed.

~*~*~*~

“Okay, so,” Astrid said. “This place is nice, but I think it’s time we get back to, uh, trying to stop the universe from breaking into little bits.”

“It’s just such a  _ big _ and  _ nebulous _ goal, is the problem,” Igni said. “Even when we manage to focus on it, we don’t really have any way of knowing how to do it.”

The four of them considered that.

“Well,” Sean said. “We could try going over what we know  _ has _ happened, and what we know is  _ supposed _ to happen.”

“We shoulda stolen the book,” Igni said.

“We might not need it,” Brain said.

“You’re right, we could fuck everything up now, but in a smaller way,” Sean said. “I don’t want to be the evil asshole some teenager has to beat up in a couple of years, but if that stops the universe from dying?”

“We do  _ not _ need to take that sort of measure,” Astrid said firmly.

“Right,” Brain said. “I was thinking more of, uh, say, uh, intentionally triggering my visions and attempting to direct them towards the book of prophecies as it was during my past life.”

“Oh,” Sean said. “That does  _ sound _ like a better idea.”

“There’s a ‘but’ in there, isn’t there.” Astrid looked at Sean levelly. He looked back. He almost thought his reflections in her eyes were doubled.

“I  _ don’t _ like the idea of causing these visions on purpose,” Sean said. “He’s lost in them too often, anyways.”

“All we need is a loud noise or a particularly jarring concept to bring him back,” Astrid said. “Adrenaline. Powerful stuff, that. He’s always lucid for the stressful bits.”

“ _ Almost _ always,” Brain said, thinking back to the first time he’d heard the word ‘oracle’.

“I am trying to get him to agree to your plan instead of the evil one,” Astrid said. “If you are not going to help with that, please wait until we’re done to speak up.”

“I-- No,” Brain said. “It  _ is _ risky. He’s right about that, and we should acknowledge it. I might get stuck seeing visions  _ forever _ someday, and causing them on purpose might make that happen much, much sooner. The point is, if it’s my presence of mind or the universe existing, I think I’ll pick the universe. I die with everyone else if it explodes, and if this plan  _ works _ then I should be able to direct my visions towards the bearable parts once we’ve gotten what use we need of them.”

“I don’t want to lose any more of you,” Sean said. “I don’t think I could take it.”

“You won’t lose me,” Brain said. “I promise. Even if I’m never lucid again, you won’t lose me, because I refuse to be lost to my family.”

There was a long moment of silence.

It stretched, thinner and thinner and longer and longer until it snapped.

“We can try it now, if you want,” Astrid said.

Brain looked at the others.

Igni nodded. After a moment, Sean did, too.

“Yeah,” He said. “Let’s try it.”

~*~*~*~

_ “Why Skuld and Ven?” Ephemer asked. “Is one of them the--” _

_ Brain shook his head. “It’s-- It’s complicated,” He said. “I-- There’s a man called the Master of Masters.” _

_ “Heard of him.” _

_ “Yeah, wrote this book.” Brain held up the book. “Only, near as I can tell, there’s either some sort of elaborate shitpost being pulled on the whole world, or some serious sabotage.” _

_ “You talk like a foreteller,” Ephemer groaned. “Please just say what you’re getting at.” _

_ “Mm,” Brain said. “The person who wasn’t supposed to be a successor like the rest of us is… is-- is Lauriam.” _

_ “Fuck,” Ephemer said. “We-- We can’t tell him that, can we? I don’t think he could take it.” _

_ “I think we have to tell him,” Brain said. “I-- He has a right to know. Hiding this from him will only make it worse in the long run.” _

_ “How?” Ephemer said. “If he doesn’t know, it can’t--” _

_ “He’s not stupid, he’d--” _

_ “I never said he--” _

_ “Then what did you--” _

_ There was a cough. _

_ They turned. _

_ Lauriam was standing there. _

_ “What are you two arguing about?” He asked. _

_ Brain and Ephemer smoothed themselves out a little bit. _

_ “It’s uh,” Ephemer said. “It’s not important. We just got a bit carried away, is all.” _

_ “Okay…” Lauriam said, clearly unconvinced as Brain glared at Ephemer. “Well… I’ll be… on my way…… to bed… So please keep it down.” _

_ He left. _

_ “That went well,” Ephemer said. _

_ “No it did not,” Brain said. “I’m going to find Skuld and Ven, and we’re going to figure out how to tell him.” _

_ “It’ll break him.” _

_ “Maybe,” Brain said. “But he has a right to know why his sister’s gone.” _

~*~*~*~

“Wake up.”

He couldn’t identify the voice, at first, or the hand on his shoulder.

He was breathing heavily, he realized. Most of his visions didn’t leave him so breathless.

“Wake  _ up _ ,” Igni repeated. “Are you still in there?”

He nodded. “Yeah,” He breathed. “I’m here, I just…”

“Take your time,” Astrid said. “Deep breaths.”

They were still and silent for longer than any of them would have really appreciated.

“We had to tell him,” He said. “He had all the resources to look for her  _ because _ she was gone in the first place, we-- We  _ had _ to tell him.”

“It went poorly,” Sean said.

Brain nodded. “We tried to be there for him, but by the time he would have been ready for us to be, he…”

He let himself be drawn into the hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stakes are too big. (o.o;) my b
> 
> I've been mentioning in places that the fake successor in this au is different than in canon, but as this goes up I'm pretty sure this is the first time it's explicitly spelled out in the text itself, posting-wise. Pretty sure it's made pretty clear in some events in W&T that haven't been posted yet but that's not out yet. Anyone who's not keeping track of Every Update In This Series As It's Happening (fair) will probably see that one first tho. But yeah! Lauriam angst. Him's a sad boy


	27. I don’t know where to go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suffocate me, so my tears can be rain  
I will water the ground where I stand  
So that the flowers can grow back again

_ He shook hands with Ventus for the first time. _

“I just… I feel like I had something to tell you.”

_ He took his hand back, trying not to be too quick about it. _

~*~*~*~

_ He was a child. He was just a child. He did not understand the machines around him, or the strange chill he felt despite the fire at the center of the room. _

_ “Don’t you get it, Ava?” A man’s voice said. “This is perfect! This is how this version of me catches up with all the others!” _

_ “Master--” _

_ “It’s harmless. Look, does he seem in pain?” _

_ “You’re already--” _

_ “Trust me, dear, this is exactly the sort of power you do not want him to have too much of. This is the best for all of us.” _

_ “Master--” _

_ “I know, Ava. I know. It’s scary, to see your child at work. I feel it every day, watching all of you.” _

_ “So you should--” _

_ “Dear Ava, dearest of six,” The man said, and his tone was warm and loving and heartless. “By now, you are old enough to know not to tell me what I should or should not do.” _

_ Blayne yawned. He wasn’t just cold. He was tired. _

_ The man reached out and flicked a switch, not seeming to acknowledge him, but as the small sound reached his ears so did the warmth of the fire. Gears around them clicked to a halt. _

_ “Still,” The man said. “That’s enough for today.” _

_ “Master.” She drew herself up to her full height, still shorter than him, _ this time,  _ and looked at where his face wasn’t quite visible under his hood. “I’m not bringing him back here for you to drain like this. He’s my son. It’s my job to protect him.” _

_ “Just as I protected you, and your siblings, when you were young.” _

_ “That doesn’t give you--” _

_ “You were alone, Ava,” The man said. “It reminded me too much of myself, at that age.” _

_ Blayne tried to stay awake, as always. He was getting big. His mother was starting to have trouble carrying him. _

_ He tried to… _

~*~*~*~

_ “Chirithys?” He muttered, seeing them on the lip of the fountain. “Alone?” _

_ One of them turned to him, and although they were all so, so similar, he knew it was Lauriam’s. _

_ He held back a shudder, trying not to think about what had happened to the human that Chirithy was bound to. _

~*~*~*~

“It’s not  _ working _ ,” Brain said. “I can’t aim it.”

“Maybe not by yourself,” Astrid said. “I can try to help, if you’re willing to try again.”

~*~*~*~

_ “Anything useful in the death book?” Skuld asked. “Preferably something that won’t make us go mad to hear it.” _

_ “Skuld,” Ventus said reproachfully. _

_ “Lauriam’s not human anymore!” Skuld said. “Like, literally. I feel like that’s something that should be consistent throughout somebody’s lifetime, whether they’re human or not.” _

_ “Well it wasn’t,” Brain said. “Now would you all be quiet for a moment so I can read? I’m going to need this eventually.” _

_ There was a brief quiet. _

_ ‘And No Heart will draw from a past, nominal or otherwise, ours or otherwise, his own self, who will serve to further strengthen the hero in his _

_ “What do you mean, you’re going to need this eventually?” _

_ “Fine, I’ll read a different page,” Brain muttered. Louder, he said, “I mean I’m going to need to know what’s in this book. One of you get over here and do something that isn’t distracting, I’ll need a grounding point.” _

_ “Has he always been this weird?” Skuld ask Ephemer out of the corner of her mouth. _

_ “Yeah, pretty much,” Ephemer said. “It seems to work for him, though.” _

_ “I thought you liked Lauriam better.” _

_ The pair dissolved into the sounds of wrestling. It was remarkably light-hearted, for the situation. Brain wiped his eyes and flipped to an earlier page. _

_ ‘A world of greenery and great importance. A world of lost ways and lost people. Only to be visited once by the hero, but what a visit it will be!’ _

_ He flipped through more pages. _

_ ‘And the hero will stand on the ruins of his Destiny, and face the thief of that stolen shell of that one so beloved to him in that so ill defined way, and he will say “No”. He will say “Not today, not like this”, and he will fight, and he will win a victory so heartachingly brief that his pain will reach his own abandoned body, however subtly.’ _

_ “This book sucks,” Ventus said, reading over his shoulder. “Would it kill the Master of Masters to get us a happier future?” _

_ “Near as I can figure, yes,” Brain said. “Ugh, I wish we had another copy of this here. It’s impossible to find anything I can use in here.” _

_ “You could try something that isn’t--” Ventus checked the numbers at the tops of the pages. “--a thousand years away?” _

_ “Hm,” Brain said. _

_ “Glad I could help,” Ventus said. _

_ “Wait.” Brain turned as he spoke, and Ventus looked at him curiously. “Give me your hand a moment, I want to try something.” _

_ “Uh, okay.” Ventus extended his hand, a little uncertain. “Sure.” _

_ Brain took it. _

“Then why don’t you talk like you’re from Daybreak Town?” The man who wasn’t Lauriam demanded. “Why are you a kid again? Why don’t you know who I am?”

_ Brain flinched, in spite of himself, drawing back. _

_ “You’re not okay, huh,” Ventus said. _

_ “No, I’m not,” Brain said. “I swear, whenever I get visions from you, it’s like they’re specifically tailored to be upsetting somehow.” _

_ “I need an explanation,” Ventus said. _

_ “Magic.” He shook his hands next to his face with a mocking emphasis. “I see shit, and it’s shitty.” _

_ Ventus considered that. “Sounds like a lot,” He decided. _

_ “Yeah, you’re telling me,” Brain sighed. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a slower one this week, I guess, but we got a better look at the Master of Masters here! He's an interesting character to write, for sure. A funky fellow


	28. All wisdom left unsaid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit of an enigma I need  
To draw the gold out of my greed  
A miraculous enigma I'd call it  
If you still want me at all

“This isn’t working,” Brain said. “It’s just-- I’m  _ not _ seeing the book, I don’t get it! I-- I--”

“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself,” Sean said. “Let’s stop  _ trying  _ to see the past. For now, at  _ least _ .”

“Sean’s right,” Igni said. “You need a break. You’ve gotta keep up with shit that’s happening now, too.”

Brain looked at Astrid. She didn’t look as tired as he felt, from trying to help direct him towards what he was trying to reach, but he could still see bags under her eyes, and he was beginning to wonder how long they’d been at this.

“A break sounds nice,” she said. “I think our host is going to stop putting up with us soon, in any case. We should find somewhere else to stay.”

~*~*~*~

The next world they arrived in was another seaside. Most of the inhabitants were human, but Brain didn’t notice any of the reactions they’d gotten in the completely human worlds they’d visited. Their eyes didn’t skip over Sean’s tail like it wouldn’t be there if they didn’t acknowledge it.

It was, for almost all appearances, evening. Every clock they saw read 2 o’clock, even the clock tower in the distance that a local informed them belonged to the train station of a nearby town.

Their first priority was finding somewhere to stay. It was another capitalist world, so that meant money.

“I checked some of the stores,” Igni said, jogging up to where she’d left her siblings on the beach. “They use munny here. And, yes, it’s  _ always _ twilight. Apparently this place is called the Evening Sea.”

“It’s stuck in time, and it uses a currency that seems to form from passage between worlds,” Sean said. “How real are we sure this place is?”

“We’re here, so it’s real enough for me,” Astrid said. “Besides, just because the sun is stuck doesn’t mean everything else is. The clocks are still moving.”

“That person from Wonderland would either have a field day or a heart attack,” Igni said, sitting down and looking over the waves.

“Anything else worth knowing?” Brain asked.

“They’re hiring for lifeguards.” She pointed towards a structure at the edge of the sand. “Apparently the local schools are starting up for the year, and most of the ones they had just quit.”

“Hm,” Sean said. “Think I’m qualified?”

“Let’s check,” Astrid said. “Igni, you and I should look at jobs, too.”

“I can work,” Brain said.

“I don’t think you can,” Astrid said. “Braig was wrong about a lot, but… not about your presence issues.”

“I understand hanging out’s gonna get boring,” Sean said. “But unless this place is unreasonable and we don’t actually want to stay here, the three of us should be able to earn enough to keep us all afloat.”

“I don’t want to be a burden--”

“You won’t be,” Igni said firmly. “You’re not, and never will be, a burden, because you are our brother and we love you. I’ll say it as many times as I need to. You don’t have to put yourself through shifts to earn it.”

Brain hesitated, but he smiled and stood. “Still,” he said. “Let’s go together, okay?”

“Of course.”

~*~*~*~

While Sean interviewed for the position of lifeguard, his siblings milled around the beach gift shop.

“Check this out,” Brain said. “They’ve got custom mugs.”

“Oh, shit, really?” Igni came over to look at the display with him.

“Both of you, please,” Astrid said. “Put the mugs back.”

They turned to her in unison, giving her identical, flat stares.

“These custom keychains are  _ much _ cooler,” she explained.

“Keychains!” The pair exclaimed. Igni pretty much dropped the mug she’d been inspecting, leaving her brother to catch it, as she rushed over to look. “Ooo, varieties.”

“We can each get one, I think,” Astrid said. “But we should probably wait until we have a house.”

“Come on,” Igni said. “What’s more important? A house? Or keychains?”

Astrid was about to answer, but then she reconsidered. “Hm.”

“We  _ have _ gotten more use out of keychains than houses since we left the Garden,” Brain said.

“That is true,” Igni said.

“On the other hand, we have been moving around a lot more than we are expecting to in the future.”

“Oh, point,” Brain said.

“Maybe I can get a job in the gift shop,” Igni said.

They all considered that.

“Solid plan,” Astrid decided.

Igni went up to the counter to ask about gift shop positions, and Astrid put the keychains she’d picked up back on their stand.

~*~*~*~

_ “You called, Master?” Brain’s mother had her hand on his shoulder as they approached the man hunched over his desk. Seeing that man, in that frenzied state, made Blayne want to hide behind her and clutch at her robes like the child he was. _

_ “Ah, Ava.” The man straightened, turning, and Brain strained his eyes, trying to see under the hood. He’d never managed to see, but he kind of hoped there was a monster under there. “Have you already delivered the messages?” _

_ “Yes, Master.” _

_ “Good, then I’ll have to give Luxu his next task.” The man turned back to his desk, pouring over something that went fuzzy when Brain tried to focus on it too hard. “Had to wait, after all. You know how he is. Always jumping the gun, ha-- although, he will have to learn patience eventually.” _

_ “Yes, Master.” _

_ “I see you brought your son,” the man continued. “How’s he doing?” _

_ “He’s well, Master.” _

_ “Good, good.” The voice was smiling. The face, as always, was still unseen. “You, boy, come here a minute, will you?” _

_ Brain stepped forward, almost on instinct. Something about that tone of voice screamed ‘safety’, even when nothing else about the situation did. His mothers hand came off his shoulder, and she did not approach with him. _

_ The Master of Masters looked at Brain, who tried not to show too much of his nerves. _

_ “My,” the man said approvingly. “You have gotten big, haven’t you? You’re almost a man yourself!” _

_ “Master, he’s fourteen.” _

_ “Many in your union are younger.” The Master of Masters waved his hand dismissively. “And when the time comes, fourteen is the age the hero will be.” _

_ Brain wanted to ask what time was coming, or when it would arrive. He wanted to ask if that hero might be him. His mother’s master had already chosen him for one responsibility, after all. _

_ “My union is children, Master.” Her eyes were hidden behind her mask, but Brain knew that tone. He knew the danger it might have been. “And if the hero is to be fourteen, then he will be a child as well, and I pity him.” _

_ There was a silence. _

_ Seconds ticked by, counted distantly by the clock whose mechanism surrounded the rooms of the tower. _

_ “Right answer,” the Master of Masters said, and his voice contained a trace of a joke he knew only he would get. _

~*~*~*~

“Hey.”

Brain stiffened as Astrid put a hand on his shoulder, and he jolted back to reality. He wasn’t fourteen. He wasn’t in a clock. “Y-Yeah?”

“Igni and Sean are done with their interviews,” Astrid said. “We can’t get a house with what we have now, or on this short notice, so they went ahead to check out somewhere to stay until we can.”

“And we…”

“You didn’t seem outwardly distressed,” Astrid said. “I wanted to see if you’re still in a state where you can snap out of it on your own.”

“I think…” Brain said. “I think that one was  _ almost _ done, if that helps.”

“Hopefully it does."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gang goes to the Evening Sea and prepares to set up a base of operations for the foreseeable future. It's one of three settlements in the pocket world that contains Twilight Town, and the one that contains the most castaways by a large margin. Don't ask me what the third one is I don't know
> 
> Master of Masters: I'm a good guy, right?  
Me: Do you really want me to answer that?  
Master of Masters: YES


	29. A flick of gold, a color rush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm at my birthday party by myself  
I only got one card up on the shelf  
From my mama  
I made myself a cake with sweet ice cream  
Got strawberries in it, they say that's the dream

The next few weeks were spent in a bed and breakfast, where they’d managed to work out a solid deal that Astrid helped out with some of the more physically intensive parts (the owner was starting to get on in years) in exchange for their stay.

Brain was faced with the sudden task of figuring out what to do with all of his new spare time. The vast majority of it ended up being spent on his own, and since he didn’t want to spend every day in a fugue state of visions and cheese snacks he had to figure it out quickly. He ended up getting a couple of notebooks and trying once again to work out the timeline of his visions again.

It was… difficult. He could clump them, according to about how old he’d been at the time, and he could organize some things in the clumps based on references to previous events, but the exact order still escaped him.

He felt like he should have been able to put it together better.

The hyperactive spinning of his mind combined with his feelings of helplessness to create the worst kinds of guilt and boredom. He needed a distraction.

He went out, one day, near what was theoretically the end of their stay, and wandered the town.

It seemed remarkably similar to the Radiant Garden, all things considered. Sure, there were a few major differences, most notably the eternal redness of the sky and the distinct lack of a castle, but as a town it was almost shockingly familiar.

There was a stand near the train station selling ice cream, and Brain figured from the mascot that it was probably a chain. He shrugged, figuring chains got established for a reason, and went inside to see what flavors they had.

It was entirely novelty flavors, which meant he had to figure out how things like lavender and sea salt and garlic translated into ice cream before making a decision.

“First time?” The person manning the thing said, hiding their boredom relatively admirably.

“Yeah, uh.” Brain glanced at the list of flavors again. “Do you have any recommendations?”

“Hm,” they said, looking over the flavors. “What do you like to eat?”

“Food, largely,” he said.

“Largely,” they repeated, looking at him incredulously.

He laughed a little, rubbing the back of his head. “Linguistic quirk, I guess,” he said. “Point is, I’m not really picky, especially recently.”

“Hm,” they said. “How’s garlic sound?”

“How well does that actually work in ice cream?”

“Surprisingly well.” They shrugged. “Surprisingly enough that we don’t exactly sell that much of it, if I’m honest, but I like it well enough.”

“I suppose I could be convinced to take some off your hands, then,” Brain said. “How much?”

They told him, and he bought a bar, and hung out a while as he ate it. It was pretty alright.

“Well,” he said, when his ice cream was long gone. “I should get going. Someone’s probably worried about me by now.”

“See you around, then?” They said.

~*~*~*~

_ “See you around, then!” The wielder said cheerfully. _

_ Brain wished he could be sure of that. The clock above the town was ticking, closer and closer to the start of the end of the world. Any day now, the bells would ring. _

_ Any-- _

~*~*~*~

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah, I’m fine, I just… I zone out sometimes.” He didn’t want to explain the visions. That could go wrong in any number of ways.

“Oh, yeah, I get that,” they said sympathetically. “You gonna be fine going home?”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have another episode for a bit.” He waved his hand placatingly. “See you around!”

~*~*~*~

With the majority of the population working, Sean’s job as a lifeguard was pleasantly dull. No one was out drowning themselves, so as long as he stayed reasonably alert and signalled his counterpart on shore that everything was going smoothly every once and awhile, he could pretty much do whatever he wanted.

He was worried about the people from the Garden, and was beginning to regret leaving the ones they’d seen at that nighttime place behind.

He shook his head. Worrying now would only make things worse for him, not better for them. He kept telling himself that, as his thoughts refused to let go of everything that could go wrong.

He gave the ‘all good’ signal.

And what of his family? Anything could happen while he was out on the water and--

He knocked himself in the head lightly with his hands a few times. “You gotta work,” he reminded himself.

~*~*~*~

Igni, too, had many lazy days. Despite their need for hands around the gift shop, it was still a slow season, and she was perfectly content to keep the place clean and do inventory and otherwise goof off with whatever coworker was there that day until customers came by.

“You’re from kinda far off, too, right?” One of them asked her one day.

She nodded.

“What was the schooling like, where you came from? You seem kinda young to be out of school, is all.”

“Oh,” she said. “Uh… I was mostly homeschooled, I guess. I mean, I went to a boarding school for a while, but…”

They shuddered. “Yeah,  _ I _ went to a boarding school for a year, too,” they said. “Worst year ever.”

“It… was pretty bad for me, too,” Igni agreed. “Safe, though. Safer than I guess I would have been staying with my guardian from before then.”

“Shithead?” Her coworker offered.

“I was a kid, I don’t remember,” she said. “Kinda lackadaisical about injury, though, and I know the kids who  _ stayed  _ with him ended up in a less than optimal situation.”

“Shithead,” they decided.

She considered that. “Yeah, probably.”

“You on closing shift today?”

“Yeah, you?”

“No, I get off at lunch.”

“Lucky.”

“You know it.”

The two of them were silent for a while.

“Man,  _ fuck _ Miss Molly,” Igni’s coworker said.

“Ugh, I  _ know _ , right?” She said. “Why was she even a teacher?”

“Literally no idea.”

  
“Horrendous choice on  _ someone’s _ part.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every ice cream flavor mentioned in this chapter is a flavor I have eaten and enjoyed. That's your fun fact of today. Admittedly the garlic ice cream was only made as a "ha ha we really will put this in anything" at the garlic festival but it was still tasty and I'll stand by that. The lavender I've had a few places and the sea salt I made with a friend
> 
> Sean's got an anxiety disorder now I think. Accidentally projected that onto him but it works probably


	30. Wheel and turn or bleed and burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wheel and turn or bleed and burn  
Fly between, blue and green  
Soar, dive down, bronze and brown  
Dragonmen must fly when threads are in the sky

Since her arrival at the Evening Sea, Astrid had discovered the luxuries of a hot bath. Every individual joint in her body seemed to sigh in relief as she lowered herself into the water, hot enough to steam (though  _ not _ hot enough to steam  _ visibly _ , in that subtle distinction) and turn her skin pink.

Tomorrow, she figured, when the paychecks came, they would have enough money to start actually looking for a house of their own, rather than just seeing what the market value for a house was for the moment.

She took a deep breath of the warm, humid air. Housing here was more inexpensive than she’d expected it to be by a long shot. The money was almost a formality. She supposed that made sense-- there were a few other towns around, but the world still seemed much smaller than most of the others she’d visited (the nighttime place, Traverse Town, was still easily the smallest, though) and she doubted there was much place else for people to go.

A nighttime place, a twilight place… was there an eternal day out there, somewhere? A sky that was always a bright, pale blue?

The idea was intriguing, but it somehow felt more redundant than the other stages of the day.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. “Sean and Igni are home,” Brain said. “They brought dinner.”

“I’ll be out in a minute,” she answered.

~*~*~*~

“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” Sean said. “Our own house. I don’t think we’ve been in a straight-up  _ house _ since we left the Garden.”

“It’ll be another adjustment,” Astrid said. “One I’ll certainly welcome, though.”

“I’m claiming a wall for the timeline,” Brain said.

“Ooo, the timeline.”

~*~*~*~

The house was small, but it was bigger than their room at the bed and breakfast, and it was  _ theirs _ . Genuinely theirs, in a way no space had been for some time.

“I’m going to sleep for three days,” Sean said, pulling himself onto one of the beds.

“No you won’t, you have work tomorrow,” Igni said.

“Call me in.”

“No.”

“Damn you.”

“To the fires of hell, I know,” she said, flopping down next to him.

“All the way down,” Sean agreed.

~*~*~*~

“Hey, Astrid,” Brain said. “I’ve been thinking.”

“As you do,” she said.

“Merlin taught you spells, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why haven’t you been using them?”

She considered that. “Haven’t really found much of a need to,” she said finally. “The first lesson of magic is knowing when not to use it.”

“Didn’t you say Merlin made his furniture dance around all the time?”

“I suppose it’s something he  _ learned _ but did not  _ internalize _ .”

They sat quietly for a long moment.

“That’s not the reason, is it?” He said.

She looked at her hands, and allowed some lights to dance around them. “It’s… felt weird, since that day we left the Garden. Itchy. Borrowed, maybe.”

“Since whatever Braig did.”

“Yeah.”

“Someday,” Brain decided. “He’s gonna die. And I’m gonna watch.”

She chuckled. That feeling, too, seemed borrowed now. “What, you’re not going to kill him yourself, in defense of my honor or something?”

“No,” Brain said. “He hurt you so casually. Someone else is going to need more revenge than us, probably. So I’ll watch them.”

“That works,” Astrid said.

~*~*~*~

The four of them found themselves sitting on what could be considered their porch one late afternoon, eating dinner and generally taking care of themselves and each other.

“How goes planning?” Sean asked. “Any progress?”

“The foretellers did something, intending to travel forward,” Brain said. “I think they need someone to call them back for it to work, though.”

“So, what, we keep them from getting called back?” Sean said. “I don’t know how I feel about stranding people outside of time, even if…”

“No, you’re right,” Brain said. “That’d be horrible.”

“Besides,” Astrid said. “There’s no way to do that for sure. Someone will figure it out, or do it on accident.”

“So we can move that call,” Igni said. “Even just a little bit should do it, we just need to figure out how.”

“That’s the tricky part,” Brain agreed. “But I think we can. Between the four of us? It’s practically for sure.”

“And we’ve got time,” Astrid said. “Does the call have to come from a specific place?”

Brain nodded. “Same place they left, which shouldn’t be  _ too _ difficult to find. I think we can tune this star shard to each other, so I could probably look for it.”

“I don’t like the idea of any of us travelling alone,” Igni said. “It’s… Well, it’s uncomfortable, isn’t it? To think about, I mean. What if something happened?”

“We’re all competent,” Sean said.

“Yes,” Astrid said. “But there’s always a risk, and that risk gets bigger if we go to dangerous places alone. This Luxu fellow-- he could realize we’re sabotaging him.”

“I guess you’re right,” Sean said. “Still, it’d be more efficient if we could each go somewhere, right?”

“We’ve only got one star shard,” Brain said.

“There  _ have _ to be other ways to travel,” Sean said. “Whatever force brought all these people here, someone  _ has _ to have figured out how to harness it.”

“So we’ve got two tasks on the table,” Brain said. “Learn how to call the foretellers back early, and learn how to travel without the star shard, preferably with something easier to direct.”

“Task number three,” Igni said. “You learn to control your visions better, if it’s possible. I don’t like the idea of your life being a slow march to an inevitable, eternal dream.”

“I’ll help, as much as I can,” Astrid said. “But task four is that I either heal the split in my heart or come to terms with it, so I’ve got my own work to do, too.”

“Okay,” Brain said. “Four tasks for the next, uh, decade or so. Sounds manageable.”

“We’re making these sound a lot smaller than they are,” Sean pointed out. “I mean, learning about how to control time travel? Where do we even start with that?”

“We’re trying to sound positive,” Astrid said.

“I suppose that’s fair,” Sean sighed.

Igni shifted in her seat, a small smile forming on her face. “Gee, Brain,” she said. “What do _you_ wanna do tonight?”

“Same thing we do every night, Igni,” Brain said. “Try to save the universe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [First things first. Have a playlist.](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL86Rq43PH6qymDIFktIPnejIUGGY04fAS) Hopefully you can all see all those videos. The decision to use song lyrics for chapter titles was because 1) they're awesome and 2) I specifically wanted to make a playlist.
> 
> And that's where we leave off! I said a lot of what I have to say about endings and the like yesterday when I posted the last chapter of W&T so this'll probably be a little shorter than what's turning out to be my traditional end note length asdfafadsf
> 
> I didn't keep it a secret that this was inspired by a dream I had like. two days before I started writing it. Astrid and Sean were the primary focus of the dream, with Igni and another character I couldn't initially identify. Them being Brain clicked, though, so then that was decided. The reason Miss Molly is such an asshole teacher is because she was like that in the dream. The creative process is, truly, wild as shit.
> 
> I felt a little weird, leaving so much for the gang to do in between this story and W&T, but unfortunately Sean is right about these being incredibly complex tasks and I. do not know how to write them out. I might come back and write them doing all those things at some point but who knows lol
> 
> [Also by including Brain as a main protagonist I legally obligated myself to make this joke](https://youtu.be/mYvAYwpUDv8)

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me on the flip side
> 
> And by on the flip side I mean on tumblr at starburstdragon or roxasboxas
> 
> I'll get links later


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